#voice to parliament

[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

[tallowandport]

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

[hrtvampires]

If anyone is curious about what is happening in Australia at the moment, today Australian citizens voted on whether or not there should be added to the constitution the need for the government to set up an advisory board made up of Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders (Australia's indigenous people) so that they can bring forward issues affecting their communities as well as provide feedback on how new laws might affect the. The results of the vote was announced a few hours ago and it was a No, with over half the population deciding not to include this in the constitution.

The reason this inclusion in the constitution was so important is because of one simple fact: Australia is a very racist country. It pretends not to be, pushing a narrative of assimilation (for example, I remember ads about how we're "one country, one people" playing on tv when I was a kid, and many of the ads against voting yes focused on how "this voice would divide us").

The Stolen Generation only ended in 1969. If you don't know what this is, The Stolen Generation refers to a period in which the government forcibly took Indigenous children from their communities, families and cultures. These children were then taken to institutions, or adopted - being punished for speaking their own languages, and often being subject to abuse and neglect. Most of these children never saw their families again. Many indigenous traditions and cultural practices are passed down from generation to generation orally, meaning that The Stolen Generation led to a lot of traditions being lost.

The reason i'm explaining what The Stolen Generation is, is that it still massively affects indigenous people today. The Stolen Generation only ended 54 years ago, meaning that the CHILDREN taken from their families are still very much alive today, and the trauma they experienced still affects their communities. There's a massive gap in education, employment, etc between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples.

The Stolen Generation isn't the only contributor to Australia's culture of racism, or the systematic racism here; but I wanted to inform people about it because it makes a point and spreads awareness about Australia's history.

This no result is a sobering reality check. The advisory committee would have meant issues such as Black deaths in custody, and the gap could have been prioritized by the government.

Australia is still very much racist. People are still uneducated on the difference between equality and equity. People don't want to put in the work to make the world better and decolonize their minds. The government still doesn't give a shit about it's people. Misinformation is rampant. Fearmongering is rampant.

#auspol #australian politics #voice to parliament #politics

[biseggsualitea]

So Australia just voted no to enshrining a voice for indigenous Australians into our constitution. This voice was to be an advisory body with no real legal power over policy. And yet, despite the history of absolute HORRID treatment of Aboriginal Australians (attempted genocide) and the MULTITUDE of issues they continue to face as a marginalised group in our society, WE STILL SAID NO.

I am sitting in my kitchen sobbing. I am grieving for indigenous Australians, who I am sure will suffer greatly as a result of this. I am grieving for the complete backwards step we have taken. I am grieving for the fact that we live in a world where people are so selfish and ignorant that they can't think of the needs of others for the sake of equity.

If we cannot look out for each other, especially when it comes at absolutely no cost to ourselves, what hope do we have?

#voice to parliament #the voice #australia #aus politics #auspol #referendum #equity #equality #capitalism sucks #i hate it here

[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

[mengjue]

Well, as feared, it looks like the worst of Australia’s racism, ignorance, and apathy is on display today. The statements from No voters and campaigners have been absolutely shameful

#yes23 #voice to parliament #auspol #Australia

[blueboyluca]

My dogs are politically active and they say to Australians vote YES for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament on October 14!

#Yes23 #Topaz #Marceline #borderpap #papillon #Voice to Parliament #Australia #auspol

[mirrorofliterature]

so my country just voted no to a basic proposal for a constitutionally entrenched first nations advisory body to parliament

welp. we tried. great job on the racism, australia

#auspol #referendum #voice to parliament

[aceniixx]

Australians think we are so much better than everyone else and we can see through political crap, and then we overwhelmingly vote no to give first nations people what amounts to a pity committee because "if you don't know, vote no" and "THEY ARE GONNA STEAL UR BACKYARDS"

We are a disgrace.

#fuck the government for being too cowardly to do the right thing and palming it off to the public #this campaign has divided us as a country in a way that we have never truly been before #rupert Murdoch wins again #auspol #australia #voice to parliament #racism as always is alive and well

[spnexploration]

Let's not screw this up, eh?

#yes23 #yes23au #vote yes #voice to parliament #auspol #referendum #australian politics #i already voted because i'm working #so i am disappointed i missed out on a democracy sausage #i don't want to be disappointed by the result too #but referendums do have a tendency to be lost in aus...

[thisdiscontentedwinter]

This is hilariously on point, but also painfully true.

Remember that the No Campaign with its "Don't know? Vote No" is banking on voters' ignorance. How about "If you don't know, fucking look it up"?

Conservatives are supposed to not mention that part where they like their voters dumb and afraid. These arseholes have put it on posters.

#auspol #straya #vote yes #voice to parliament #yes23

[cannonscalling]

I was reading out the arguments in the voice to parliament booklet to the fam the other day because wow and it is astounding that one of the first things the no campaign say is "if you're unsure, vote no" like excuse me???

How about if you're unsure, do some research? Read the rest of the booklet? Listen to some of the arguments people are making and have a think about what they're actually saying?

#that should absolutely not be the default wtf #auspol #voice to parliament

[queerasfact]

To our fellow Australians, don't forget you have until 8pm local time Monday 18 September to make sure you're enrolled to vote in the Voice referendum. Tell your friends!

#voice to parliament #voice referendum #auspol #australia

[mengjue]

I’m so fucking tired of hearing news sites explain how higher education levels are linked with voting a particular way, but then treating it as some isolated fun fact and never asking why. Like the ABC discusses how higher education is a huge predictor of voting yes to the voice, and then it just leaves it at that.

WHY DO YOU THINK THAT IS, HUH? I wonder why having more knowledge, more exposure to other views, and more critical thinking skills makes you do things like support the voice and support progressive policies???? I wonder what that says about the opposite, that you tend to be less educated to support conservative causes??? Gee, isn’t it a fucking MYSTERY??

#孟珏 life talk #voice to parliament #auspol #Australia #obviously this isn’t about access and equity issues #that’s a whole other problem #but I’m sick of no one asking why education might make you think critically about how society should be inclusive #and why conservative politics relies so much on a lack of education in its supporters

[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