The Voice

[tonyo]

Fair dinkum...there is some absolutely absurd judgements being made.

The reasons for voting 'No' were widespread and diverse.
There is no intellectual superiority in the 'Yes' case.
That's purely a personal opinion, and perhaps that arrogance is arguably one of the reasons the case was lost.

If the question had been...."Do you think first nations people should be recognised in the constitution?... it would have romped in".

The fact is that indigenous folks have a Voice.
It's a strong voice.
It's heard often.
You only have to look at indigenous input on both sides of the debate.
It was impressive...yes, even Lydia Thorpe (who may be a bit out there, but who is a strong and commited advocate for her people)
But it is a diverse voice.

Many government departments at both a state and federal level have an indigenous input...its especially so in things like education and health
If you think governments aren't aware of the problems indigenous folk face you're mistaken.
They're well aware of issues and locations.

The Voice isn't the problem...it's the Ears.
The voice is loud and clear.
It needs to be listened to, and there need to be a willingness by governments to close that gap.
...and we've just wasted a heap of money that could have been better spent

No one is saying there is an intellectual superiority in voting yes - far from it, if people consider the facts and vote 'No', then that is democracy at work, and I have no doubt that many 'No' voters are in that category.

But if people voted 'no' simply because they didn't know what the issues were (or couldn't be bothered finding out), then that is ignorance at its best.  And the fact that the 'No' campaign legitimised the fact that remaining ignorant was acceptable, is, in my book, the biggest shame of this whole process.  

Einstein said the true definition of insanity was doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.  So something has to change in the relationship between First Nations peoples and our elected leaders, or we will be talking about the same issues in 20 or 30 years' time.

As for needing 'Ears' - ears can listen, but it doesn't mean they understand.  It's the last bit we need to get a better handle on.