General Discussions

[DJC]

I heard an Aboriginal bloke on the wireless today who gave a very good reason why an Indigenous voice to Parliament would be a good thing.

Basically, he said that, as a taxpayer, he was unhappy about the money that is spent on programs for Indigenous folk and doesn’t produce the intended/desired outcomes.  He felt that having an Indigenous voice to Parliament would mean that Government funding for Indigenous programs would be better targeted and produce better outcomes.  That would be a win-win.

The first time I voted in a Commonwealth election, I voted for Neville Bonner who became the first ever Indigenous person in Parliament.  However, Senator Bonner and the Indigenous people in the current Parliament are there to represent their electorates, not just Indigenous people (who would make up a small percentage of the voters in most electorates).

I don’t know the mechanics of the Indigenous voice, no-one does at this stage, but I am familiar with The Uluru Statement from the Heart.  It’s advocating constitutional change to improve representation of Indigenous Australians to the Commonwealth Government.  Victoria already has such an arrangement in place and South Australia is establishing its Indigenous representative body.  The sky hasn’t fallen in Victoria and I suspect that it won’t in South Australia … or the Commonwealth.