What I discovered campaigning for the Voice

 When I was growing up it was not uncommon to hear derogatory remarks about First Nations people. Of course, in those days the original inhabitants of this Land were never referred to as “First Nations” or even “Indigenous”. I couldn’t bring myself to write some of the words that were commonly bandied about when people referred to First Nations people.

 Someone I went to school with tried to argue that racism was a quite normal, that everyone was at heart a racist.

“When you see an Aborigine you know they are different” he said.

He wasn’t referring to cultural difference. He was saying that people of colour were inferior to white people.

 That was a fifty, sixty years ago. Since then, Australia has changed and so have the attitudes of most Australians towards First Nations people. Schoolchildren today are not taught that Australia was “terra nullius” or that Captain Cook “discovered” Australia. Their history books don’t ignore the presence of First Nations peoples on this continent the way they did in my day. Since the late 1970’s and 1980’s the Aboriginal flag has flown in most schools throughout Australia. The vast majority of schoolchildren have grown up with it flying proudly side by side with the Australian one. They have learnt about First Nations Australian history and culture and, by and large, accepted this history as fundamental to who we are as a nation. It is clear from recent rallies by CPAC and the No campaign that while the younger generation regard these things as a given, quite a large proportion of their elders hold no such beliefs.

 Speaking at CPAC (the Conservative Political Action Conference)  former Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, said that “this generation of Aboriginal Australians are not victims”. Not only was he denying the lived experience of many Indigenous Australians, he was playing up to an audience who have been in denial about the treatment of this country’s original inhabitants all their lives. The “entertainment” at this rally was provided by comedian Rodney Marks (using the non de plume, “Dr Chaim Tsibos”) and who referred to traditional owners as “violent black men”. This is just the kind of remark I might have heard as a child. Another speaker, ex Labor MP Gary Johns, suggested that many Aboriginal people live in a “stupor”. At a time when many communities are re-discovering Indigenous language, Johns went on to say that First Peoples (not the term he used) should “learn English”. CPAC is a “values based non-profit organisation that espouses the best of Howard, Reagan and Thatcher”. It is hard to imagine that a lot of Australians under the age of sixty share these three’s values. The people chanting “If you don’t know, vote no!” at the Michaelia Cash led anti-Voice Rally in Perth were almost universally white Australians over the age of sixty. People who, it seems, have no interest in any sort of change in this country. Even if that change might improve the lives of many First Nations Australians.

  I spent the weekend handing out pamphlets outlining the Yes campaign’s case.

“Excuse me madam/sir would you like some information on the upcoming referendum?”, was my opening gambit. I tried to be as pleasant and respectful as possible. What shocked me was the response of some people to my offer. Or lack of response. Quite a few people swept past me muttering sweet nothings under their breath. Some were openly hostile. They pushed past me, angrily telling me to,

“Fuck off” or “Stick your pamphlet up your arse.”

 I wasn’t asking them for money. All I was doing was handing out a pamphlet. Some people politely passed on it and quite a few smiled or gave me a thumb’s up. The ones who stopped to chat appeared to be surprised that it was such a modest proposal.

 The angry responses perplex me. What could it be about acknowledging the place of First Nations peoples in the constitution that could cause anger? What is it about the idea that Indigenous communities could make representations to Parliament, representations that carry no obligation to be acted upon, that is so offensive? What is it about the Voice that makes some people angry?

 The survey that was carried out to ascertain support for same sex marriage in this country resulted in 61.6% of the population voting for the proposal to change the Marriage Act to enable same sex couples to tie the knot. A result that would unlikely to have been achieved 20 years ago. It seemed that, finally, Australia was changing. We were shaking off our conservative past and, perhaps inspired by the success of the youth led campaign to recognize Climate Change, were ready to address the appalling inequities that beset First Nations Australians.

 It looked like Uluru Statement of the Heart struck a chord with many Australians. Emanating from that was the announcement of a referendum to give create an Indigenous Voice to Parliament enshrined in the constitution. At first many of us assumed that this non-controversial proposition would be as popular as the concept of same sex marriage. But, as the angry responses to my pamphleteering showed, it has proven to be way more problematic. A combination of age-old prejudices, political chicanery and, it has to be said, opposition from some First Nations Australians has led the referendum to be on a knife edge.

 It is hard to understand why a nation that embraced same-sex marriage and almost universally recognizes the threat of climate change would prevaricate over a referendum that proposes a First Nations Voice. The scaremongers have made out that this innocent proposal is a threat to our way of life. We need to ignore them and vote Yes!