#INDIGENOUS VOICE TO PARLIAMENT

[readytospock]

It's pretty sobering to see this blatant reminder of how racist Australia remains, and how resistant ppl remain to acknowledging the colonial horrors wrought historically and currently upon First Nations people. It's infuriating to know that even an at-worst ineffectual attempt to close the gap and make steps towards reconciliation, truthing and treaty has been so comprehensively stopped.

However frustrating they may have been, I know my months of trying to counter misinformation and persuade unsure relatives is nothing compared to the barrage of abuse that this referendum has unleashed upon any Aboriginal person who dares to have any sort of public or online presence. So much suffering because of this referendum, only to come to nothing.

We have so much fucking work to do.

#auspol #Indigenous voice to parliament #the voice referendum

[aceoffangirls]

Really disappointed in my country rn. Australia likes to act like its better than the rest of the world sometimes, compare ourselves to the shit politics in countries like the USA and UK but we are not. Australia is a very racist country, a lot of may not see but the truth came out during this referendum. My heart goes out to all First Nations Australians, you should not have to put up this.

There are some reminders for everyone:

Australia was only colonised in 1788 and we only became one nation in 1901. The First Nations people of Australia have been here for over 65,000 years. They have been here longer than some of the great wonders of the world like the pyramids.

The First Nations people of Australia where not included in the census and be counted in the constitution in 1967

The Stolen Generation only ended around 1969 with the continuing impacts being felt today.

The government only apologised for their actions in 2008

We continue to not listen to the First Nations people and destroy their sacred sites,

#auspol #australian politics #australia #referendum #the voice to parliament #the voice referendum #indigenous voice to parliament #indigenous australians

[aardvaark]

i’m so disgusted and saddened by this country tonight, i don’t even have the words right now. i can’t imagine how much more painful this must be for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander peoples, for my Indigenous friends, family members and acquaintances. for now, all i have is some resources.

the First Nations-specific crisis support (suicide) hotline: 13YARN (13 92 76)

the national crisis/suicide hotline: 13 11 14

donate here to pay the rent if you’re living on stolen land (ie all of "australia")

here’s a list of some other Indigenous organisations that accept donations

plus messages from some Indigenous creators to fellow Indigenous people:

and here’s a link to the full post from that last image, there’s a few more pages.

#auspol #referendum #yes23 #voice to parliament #indigenous voice to parliament #always was always will be

[aliceonn]

My heart goes out to all Indigenous Australian’s who are hurting today.

#auspol #referendum #indigenous voice to parliament #yes23 #australia

[tallowandport]

#voice to parliament #yes23 #yes23au #indigenous voice to parliament #the voice to parliament #referendum #auspol #voice referendum #Youtube #vote yes

[claraameliapond]

PSA : THE INDIGENOUS VOICE REFERENDUM 14th October 2023

The Yes Vote is literally just giving indigenous Australians A SEAT AT THE TABLE to give information and advice about issues and governmental decisions that affect them.

Indigenous information and advice for indigenous issues from indigenous Australians.

That's it . It's acknowledging their existence as the first peoples of Australia and recognising that they have valuable information to contribute about their cultures, the ways they live, what their most pressing needs are and the best ways in which to help, to enable governments to effectively help them.

The government already provides "help" each year, in an effort to close the gap on education access, healthcare access, and many other pressing needs - they are already using taxpayer money to do this but crucially, these efforts have not been successful because we are missing out on crucial information.

The Voice to Parliament gives the government access to invaluable information that enables it to create and better implement aid, education, healthcare , equal opportunity.

I have been very actively involved in many Reconciliaton efforts for the vast majority of my life -

At 16 I travelled to some of the indigenous rural communities in Australia, met elders and individuals no tourist has access to meet, learnt from them, and saw what was there.

I saw the attempts, the efforts to provide access to Western education, that the rest of the country has, to provide healthcare, housing etc.

They don't work

They are based on western ways of life, ideas of community and interaction.

It's not the same.

They don't work.

Fundamentally because even if well intentioned, your efforts to help can actually harm if you don't have access to crucial information about how indigenous communities live.

We need to accommodate our help, our efforts, our aid to the specific needs and ways of life, values and dynamics of the many indigenous communities, especially rural, that exist across Australia, so that they have access to the same human rights we all do.

The human right to healthcare and education that we all have- it's not accessible in the same ways for indigenous communities.

It's provided, but on western terms- with the western expectation that children will leave their families for 6 months at a time and travel extremely far away to attend school, for example.

This is so backwards and outdated even for western sensibilities, and an incredibly outdated mode of education that is unhealthy emotionally for any child, let alone vulnerable people who have to choose between a western run school and their culture, their families - literally being a part of their community, a present member.

There are better ways to provide access to education than this. Ways that don't disrupt their connection to community, land and culture.

And the best people to ask, to provide information that can properly inform us about these issues, and how best to navigate them, fix them, are the the indigenous Australians themselves- they are the experts.

So that our aid and help and efforts actually do - help. Actually work.

The funds are going there anyway. So we need to put it to use in effective ways.

What we have now doesn't work.

We can only make it better.

Please Vote YES for The Indigenous Voice to Parliament

It is the beginning of lasting, effective positive change for vulnerable communities, and for us all.

#VOICE TO PARLIAMENT #THE VOICE #AUSTRALIA #YES 23 #YES23 #AUSTRALIAN REFERENDUM #AUSTRALIAN REFERENDUM 2023 #INDIGENOUS VOICE TO PARLIAMENT #AUSTRALIAN POLITICS #INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS #AUSPOL #REFERENDUM #YES #VOTE YES #Important #Pertinent #Please share #love #Vote #Voting

[area51-narutorun]

#auspol #the voice to parliament #indigenous voice to parliament #indigenous australia #always was always will be #aboriginal land

[tartlette1968]

The week of processing and mourning and considering is over, in Australia, for Indigenous people, and they have released a statement.

I have read it in it's entirety.

But just before I was able to, Senator Michaelia Cash stated that the referendum result was not about rejecting Indigenous people, but was really about rejecting the PM, Anthony Alabanese.

In stating this, she has now revealed exactly what was behind the Liberal Party's motivation in supporting the "No" vote. So now, because of the tone taken in their campaign, all across Australia our state politicians have backed away from the long and complicated process of establishing treaties, and any form of truth-telling and makarrata.

I am full of the raging and volcanic fury that is the spitting of venomous and toxic white hot acid because of the way I feel. "If you don't know, vote 'No'," was their mantra. And it was every bit as obscene and repugnant as you imagine it is. Begging people to not exert even the smallest amount of effort to find out what the referendum was about, because they knew that details were available, and not nearly as scary as they wanted people to think it was.

Now the statement has been released, and it is as straight forward and heart felt as it could be. And I'm hurting all over again when I read it.

What a country we are.

#the voice referendum #Open letter to Australia #indigenous voice to parliament #The referendum result #Australia #auspol

[footage-not-found]

What an excellent week for racism and colonialism.

FIRST, Israel (yet again) showing that they are vile, hateful cunts, THEN, Australia (yet again) showing that we are a country full of ignorant, apathetic pieces of shit.

#Israel #palestine #free palestine #Australia #auspol #voice referendum #indigenous voice to parliament

[fourmsandasilentq]

A STATEMENT FROM INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS WHO SUPPORTED THE VOICE REFERENDUM

A Week of Silence for The Voice

https://x.com/thomasmayo23/status/1713352710588878944?s=20

Text copied below:

Recognition in the constitution of the descendants of the original and continuing owners of Australia would have been a great advance for Australians. Alas, the majority have rejected it.

This is a bitter irony. That people who have only been on this continent for 235 years would refuse to recognise those whose home this land has been for 60,000 and more years is beyond reason. It was never in the gift of these newcomers to refuse recognition to the true owners of Australia. The referendum was a chance for newcomers to show a long-refused grace and gratitude and to acknowledge that the brutal dispossession of our people underwrote their every advantage in this country.

For more than six years, we have explained to our nation why the Voice was our great hope to achieve real change for our families and communities.

To the Australians who supported us in this vote we thank you sincerely. You comprise many millions of Australians of love and goodwill. We know you wanted a better future for Australia, and to put the colonial past behind us by choosing belated recognition and justice.

We thank the Prime Minister and his government for having the conviction to take this referendum to the Australian people at our request. We thank him for his advocacy and all parliamentarians who did the same, including members of the Teals, Greens, Nationals and independents who stood by us. We pay particular respect to the Liberal parliamentarians who bravely advocated for the voice.

We also thank our fellow Australians from all sectors of the community, including multicultural, faith, professional, business, creative and sporting organisations. To the hundreds of thousands who took to the streets, knocked on doors and made over a million phone calls, thank you for your love and support.

Our deep chagrin at this result does not in any way diminish our pride and gratefulness for the stand they had the moral courage to take in this cause now lost. We know we have them by our side in the ongoing cause for justice and fairness in our own land.

Now is not the time to dissect the reasons for this tragic outcome. This will be done in the weeks, years and decades to come. Now is the time for silence, to mourn and deeply consider the consequence of this outcome.

Much will be asked about the role of racism and prejudice against Indigenous people in this result. The only thing we ask is that each and every Australian who voted in this election reflect hard on this question.

To our people we say: do not shed tears. This rejection was never for others to issue. The truth is that rejection was always ours to determine. The truth is that we offered this recognition and it has been refused. We now know where we stand in this our own country. Always was. Always will be.

We will not rest long. Pack up the Uluru Statement from the Heart. Fly our flags low. Talk not of recognition and reconciliation. Only of justice and the rights of our people in our own country. Things that no one else can gift us, but to which we are entitled by fact that this is the country of our birth and inheritance.

Re-gather our strength and resolve, and when we determine a new direction for justice and our rights, let us once again unite. Let us convene in due course to carefully consider our path forward.

We are calling A Week of Silence from tonight (Saturday 14th October) to grieve this outcome and reflect on its meaning and significance. We will not be commenting further on the result at this time.

We will be lowering our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags to half-mast for the week of silence to acknowledge this result. We ask others to do the same.

[photo ID: the Torres Strait Islander flag, Australian flag, and Aboriginal flag being flown at half mast at AIS and over the Sydney Harbour Bridge today 15th October 2023. It is the day after the Referendum was defeated.]

#auspol #referendum #the voice to parliament #indigenous voice to parliament #voice to parliament #week of silence

[aloeverawrites]

Hey guys, I just wanted to ask for a favour. If you could follow the "Vote Yes" tag on here to keep up to date on the Australian Referendum for the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, and reblog posts if you can. I want more people to be talking about it as it's a really important step for human rights and hopefully international support can convince Tumblr Aussies to vote yes.

The Voice would recognise Indigenous people in the Australian constitution and would create a body that would advise the government on policies that are made about Indigenous people. The Voice wouldn't have any power to vote themselves, they would just be an advisory body. While it wouldn't have power we would have records of the government ignoring it's Indigenous people and opting for harmful programs, and this public platform would make it a bit more difficult for it to brush people off. And hopefully they'll be be deterred from committing to genocidal, horrific polices like the Stolen Generation again.

Recently there's been a lot of devastating developments when it comes to human rights around the globe. A Yes vote would be a great source of hope and step in the direction of a better world.

#human rights #vote yes #voice to parliament #signal boost #indigenous voice to parliament #indigenous rights #aboriginal rights #I know I'm not aussie I just want one country to be doing the right thing at this point like jesus- #history #leftist #leftism

[redundantharpoons]

I was amused by the scene in Deadloch when all the men started singing, and I hadn't heard the song, so I looked it up to hear the actual version. It's a wonderful song called You're the Voice by John Farnham, and apparently it was a pretty big deal aroundabout when I was born, but not here in the US.

As it happens, it's being used to support the Yes vote in the referendum to add acknowledgement of indigenous peoples and an indigenous advisory board to parliament to the Australian constitution. The ad is just wonderful:

I thought that, especially with some of the messaging and wonderful storylines relating to the indigenous women in Deadloch, it was a really interesting kind of side info to share. (Plus it makes it all the more ludicrous and thus amusing with the way the song was used by cishet white men who felt threatened in the show.)

#deadloch #indigenous voice to parliament #Youtube

[frogsinpotplants]

AUS REFERENDUM 2023

Resources/more info:

#australian referendum #referendum #referendum 2023 #voice to parliement #australian politics #vote yes #indigenous voice to parliament #auspol #the voice #I'm embarrased as an Australian #Wow #I love this country!!! (sarcasm)

[tallowandport]

FUCK

I can't say I HAD much hope, but that doesn't mean this result doesn't fucking suck any less. FUCK.

fucking scaremongering, propaganda, misinformation campaigns.

#auspol #aus politics #referendum #voice referendum #the voice referendum #indigenous voice to parliament #indigenous voice referendum #the voice to parliament #voice to parliament

[claraameliapond]

Happy VOTING DAY !!!!

Go vote YES and then enjoy your democracy sausage from the democracy sausage sizzle because we live in a DEMOCRACY

And it's the best 👌🏻 💕💓💗💖😻🥰💜

I'm very excited I love voting !!!!! Eeee xxxx

#Referendum 2023 #Yes23 #Indigenous Voice Referendum #Australia #Auspol #Love #The Voice #THE INDIGENOUS VOICE REFERENDUM #VOICE TO PARLIAMENT #INDIGENOUS VOICE TO PARLIAMENT #I'M VERY EXCITED I LOVE VOTING

[cinnamonchaos]

for anyone in Australia, please do some reading beyond just the No Campaign and conservative media! There is so so much misinformation about what The Voice actually is and what it does.

Also remember - there is no 'progressive no'. We may agree that the government hasn't done enough, that a treaty should come first, and so much more action is needed. But voting no is slamming the door shut. It's not progressives winning, it's conservatives and racists and self-serving politicians. A no vote isn't progressive, it won't encourage the government to do more. If you think that the Lib party wants a no result so they can implement a better alternative, you've been deceived. There is no 'no, but because I want more action and a treaty' option. The yes will be the indicator of this, but a no will be taken as 'no action is needed' and 'we don't believe we need to recognise our country's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people'.

VOTE YES! 🖤💛❤️

#the voice referendum #indigenous voice to parliament #uluru statement #uluru statement from the heart #aboriginal and torres strait islander #First Nations Australia #australian politics #australian referendum 2023 #politics #voice to parliament