The Voice Referendum - lessons that should have been learnt
The referendum for the Voice is only days away. It’s a referendum to decide whether the Australian Constitution should include a statement to recognize the indigenous peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.
There is much speculation about whether the Yes or the No side will win. But regardless of the outcomes, the road to referendum day has revealed several issues about Australia’s present voting and electoral landscape that are unique to this country, and provide learning opportunities for the future. Three revelations that have become obvious on this journey of learning are worthy of note:
First: the referendum is being carried out to decide the current and future wellbeing of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of the country, who are the indigenous peoples of the land. They form some 4% of the total population, while the settlers (including both the original and the recent) make up the remaining 96%.
It is obvious that the will of the 96% will prevail over those of the 4%. Or put another way:
The non-indigenous people of Australia, who form 96% of the population, will be deciding the welfare and the long-term fate of the 4% indigenous people.
This is clearly an unacceptable situation. It is especially true in the case of the many among the 96% who (according to media surveys) do not consider the referendum as a first priority in their affairs. ?Unfortunately, as a Constitutional change requires a referendum, which in turn requires the participation of all legal voters in the country, there seems to be no way out of this iniquitous situation.
Second: as evident from numerous media interviews and surveys:
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Up to last week, a large proportion of the population remained uninformed about what the Referendum was all about, let alone the core issue of the disenfranchisement of sovereignty felt by the indigenous people. This reveals that the marketing and promotion techniques available today are ineffective in reaching out to all corners of the market.
?The country needs a much more effective technique for reaching out to the people and informing and educating them all about such serious issues as the Voice.
Third: perhaps the most important issue is that:
The indigenous peoples are themselves divided about whether the Constitution should be amended to include the Voice. It is absolutely necessary that, to obtain any measure of success, the indigenous peoples should present a united front, even if it is a watered-down one.
?The division has been obvious since the earliest days of the Voice proposal.? (See, e.g. the report of seven of the two hundred and fifty delegates – including high profile figures such as Lydia Thorpe - walking out of the Uluru Convention on constitutional recognition held in May 2017 at
This internal division means that, amongst other things, any actions by others in support of the Voice will only go towards increasing the internal stresses amongst the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. ?Organisers of the Voice should have done their utmost to obtain a consensus amongst all the participants to the Uluru Convention before proceeding further.
These are significant lessons that must be learnt by all leaders. They are equally relevant to national and community leadership, as well as other sectors such as corporate governance.