"Yes" to strengthening Indigenous Voice "build plate adhesion"

In the final week before The Voice referendum, here's a slightly left-field allegory for why we might want to formally recognise an Indigenous Voice to Parliament in our constitution rather than continuing to rely only on the more fickle layers of politics, policy or legislation to ensure success.

In 3D printing, ensuring that the initial layer of any model sticks sufficiently to the print bed is the most critical factor for the entire project's success. Not getting this right is just asking for trouble. This is why "build plate adhesion" of the first layer is such a big deal and a source of obsessive care, effort and stress (!) for all 3D printing hobbyists and professionals.

You may have high aspirations, the best intentions and the most exquisitely designed model for success. But without a good first layer with adequate adhesion, the whole build process and project are put at risk and vulnerable to complete build and system failure, or worse.

It is not unusual to realise only after many hours, days or even weeks of starting a 3D print that the first layer adhesion was inadequate. The failure only becomes apparent when adhesion is visibly lost—perhaps exacerbated by temperature changes in the plastic, the surrounding air or the build plate, or by the movement and vibrations of the print head and build plate—the model shifts from its intended position or is toppled over. In the aftermath, we discover that the printer had actually been mindlessly printing in mid-air for ages, producing endless strings of extruded plastic called "spaghetti" creating a "spaghetti monster".

I don't think anyone seriously intended to produce endless spirals of indigenous policy "spaghetti", but maybe the foundations were too weak.

What happens when you continue to print on top of an unreliable first layer?

At best, you (or some other poor soul) have to clean up the mess you made, reset everything and start all over again. If you restart the job and don't try something different, the print will almost certainly fail again, and the cycle repeats ad nauseam. At worst, no one even notices or tells you that the job is failing. The machine keeps pumping spaghetti, which eventually builds up, clogging the superheated print head, catches fire and burns the house down!

This is why we obsess about the quality of the initial layer and build plate adhesion!

The lesson from 3D printing for the constitutional Voice is this...

without a strong foundation—a quality initial layer that is adhered firmly to the build plate of the system—the risk of complete failure is significantly increased and, the longer it persists without adequate feedback (a reliable sensor, signal or salient "voice" in the system), the more costly will be the eventual failures (in wasted time, energy, physical and emotional resources).

In 3D printing, AI is used (even by hobbyists like myself) to monitor the print bed (via cameras), to recognise the appearance of spaghetti, and to notify the user so they can pause the print, assess the problem (often poor print bed adhesion) and correct. One such app is Spaghetti Detective.

Indigenous policy spaghetti monsters hurt everyone.

Get the initial constitutional layer to stick first. Minimise unhelpful slippage. Manage the risk of failure and waste. Continue to watch, sense and listen. Layer by layer. Project by project. Generation by generation. Building carefully on this more stable and resilient foundation. Diligently avoid, quickly recognise and meaningfully fix the source of policy spaghetti.

Let's improve "print bed adhesion" through constitutional recognition. It's the start, not the end, of sounder policy builds on firmer footings.

References:

• Australian Government. “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.” The Voice, September 13, 2023. https://voice.gov.au/.
• Australian National University. “Indigenous Voice to Parliament: Responding to Common Concerns about an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.” ANU. The Australian National University, April 10, 2018. https://www.anu.edu.au/about/strategic-planning/indigenous-voice-to-parliament.
• Ekaran, Sammy. “How to Keep 3D Prints From Looking Like Spaghetti.” Tom’s Hardware, July 16, 2023. https://www.tomshardware.com/how-to/stop-spaghetti-3d-prints.
• Obico. “The Spaghetti Detective.” Obico, 2022. https://www.obico.io/the-spaghetti-detective.html.
• Ogama Industries. “YES 23 - VOICE - LOGO by Ogama Industries | Download Free STL Model | Printables.Com.” Printables. Accessed October 8, 2023. https://www.printables.com/model/488275-yes-23-voice-logo.
• Prusa Research. “Spaghetti Monster | Prusa Knowledge Base.” Prusa Research by Josef Prusa. Accessed October 9, 2023. https://help.prusa3d.com/article/spaghetti-monster_1999.
• theBridg. “My Fully Upgraded Anet A8 Caught Fire Yesterday and Almost Burned My House Down.” Reddit Post. R/3Dprinting, December 22, 2018. www.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/comments/a8g0dz/my_fully_upgraded_anet_a8_caught_fire_yesterday/.

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