Voice referendum: Constitutional expert’s final appeal to Voice undecided

With more than 30 years' experience working at crossroads of Constitutional and First Nations Law, Professor Simon Young claims the Voice is simple and effective.

As thousands of Darling Down voters flocked to the polls for the Voice referendum, University of Southern Queensland Law Professor Simon Young was on hand to answer any lingering questions they may have had.

The Constitutional Law and First Nations Law expert claimed the Voice was a simple and effective way to improve the lives of Indigenous Australians.

He believed it would take the best ideas from across the country and hand them to our leaders in government so they could make informed and meaningful decisions.

“There is nothing new about advisory bodies to the government and we’ve got dozens on the federal level already,” Prof Young said.

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“It makes for a good government and a cheaper government.

“Just federally we have things like the Auditor General, the various ombudsmen, the Human Rights Commissioners, the Information Commission, the Productivity Commission, they all have a role in advising the government.”

Supporting the 'Yes" camp in the 2023 Voice referendum are (from Left) Brett Jones, Ginger Jones and Sian Pugh.

Each of these bodies offered advice and made representations to the Federal Government, but none had the power to override what elected leaders decide, and Mr Young claimed the same would be true for the Voice.

Unlike these bodies however, the Voice would be protected by the Constitution.

This is a notion that has caused some concern across the electorate, but Prof Young said an Indigenous body would need protections for two reasons; so future governments can’t disband it at a whim and so the broader community knows it will be around for the long haul and is worth investing time into.

Voting in the 2023 Voice referendum are Rita and Ian Sinclair.

“Our experience has been when bodies say things governments don’t like, or they hit a rough patch, they tend to get pulled down,” he said.

“What that means is that First Nations communities don’t want to bother investing in them.

“How can we keep asking them to invest in it, when we won’t commit to it ourselves?

“We know that we can’t treat everybody and pretend they’re identical. We learnt that long ago with veterans, people with disabilities and the elderly. It’s a matter of understanding differences and building bridges across them.”

Enjoying a democracy snag at Middle Ridge State School, Toowoomba are (from left) Adam O'Brien and Jessie Bateman. October 14, 2023.

Permanence is important because we’ve learned that we get the best advice from bodies that have some protection.”

Polling indicates the Yes Campaign will fail in its bid for a Voice to Parliament with recent data from Resolve showing a 56-44 lead for the ‘no’ camp.

Prof Young said it would be a sad day if the Voice failed but there would be a silver lining.

“Working in this area I have seen big disappointments, and we have to regroup and you think what’s next? What have we learned from that experience?” he said.

“We might all come out of this a bit better educated even though it blew up on us with the political division.

“I don’t think anybody expected it to be this political, because it’s a pretty simple idea and I think that is why the ‘yes’ camp is playing catch up.”