Date: 20 September 2023
Venue: Office of Kylea Tink MP, Independent Federal Member for North Sydney
Speakers:
Kylea Tink MP, Independent Federal Member for North Sydney
Dr. Shireen Morris, Constitutional law specialist, Director of the Radical Centre Reform Lab, Senior Lecturer at Macquarie University Law School and published author.
Kylea Tink MP, Independent Federal Member for North Sydney invited representatives of CALD media groups in Sydney to a media briefing on the Voice to Parliament referendum. Kylea Tink MP and Dr. Shireen Morris provided information on the background, purpose, and principle of the Voice advisory group. With the Referendum taking place on 14 October 2023, i.e., less than 3 weeks away, there has been a surging amount of contradicting information about the Voice targeted at CALD communities. The media briefing was a timely opportunity for reporters to ask questions that their readers and listeners would like answers for.
Here are the key takeaways from the media briefing:
1. The Voice is unifying, inclusive, not divisive. It will include First Nations people in the Constitution from which they were explicitly excluded despite having lived here for over 65,000 years. Kylea Tink MP shared, “one of the Fathers of that Constitution actually is known to have said, the reason they didn’t consult First Nations people, nor include them in our Constitution, was that he believed that by 1960, our First Nations community would no longer exist, that they would either be bred out or they would’ve died out. So, in 1901, when those ‘race powers’ were put into our Constitution, at that stage, it was very much about a white Australia.”
Power disparity and the top-down approach led to many unfair laws and policies about Indigenous people, such as not counting First Nations people towards Australia’s population until 1967, no equal voting rights across the board until 1984, policies forcibly removing children from their families until 1969, paying unequal or non-existent wages, “controlling where they could live, who they could marry, sometimes banning their languages from being spoken,” Dr Shireen Morris said. “The Voice is about correcting, it’s about fixing some of the racial discrimination of the past by finally recognising Indigenous people by giving them a voice.” Kylea Tink MP remarked, “I find it so frustrating when people argue that this will split us on race lines. That split is already there in our Constitution. And in fact, what this move is trying to do is to make that split null and void.”
A member of Kylea Tink MP’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee highlighted that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people deserve a constitutionally protected Voice because they are the First Peoples and ancestors of this land with a history of more than 65,000 years. Multicultural communities should support the Voice referendum because the passing of which will mean that Australia is ready to take one more step towards embracing diversity and inclusion and this will benefit all members of multicultural communities.
2. The Voice needs Constitutional protection because previous Indigenous bodies were “scrapped as soon as the politics changed,” said Dr Shireen Morris. Constitutional protection ensures that Indigenous communities will always be heard when laws and policies are made about them.
3. The Voice is just an advisory body, without veto power. It’s Parliament’s job to legislate the details of how the Voice will work and how it will look. This is important because future Parliaments can change the details to meet the needs of the time. “The Voice respects Parliament and the democratic process,” said Dr Shireen Morris.
4. The Voice will Increase effectiveness and cut waste. The current top-down approach has created a lot of waste and duplications in managing Indigenous affairs, so “despite good intentions and a lot of money being spent, we are failing to close the gap, and in fact, the gap is getting wider,” said Dr Shireen Morris. “Laws are far more likely to be positive, effective, efficient and have good practical outcomes if they’re made in proper consultation with the communities that they’re trying to assist.” Over time the Voice will save money and close the gap for future generations.
5. The Voice will address the current inadequate representation of First Nations people in Government and Parliament. When a reporter asked whether the Voice advisory body will duplicate the roles of Indigenous MPs, Dr Shireen Morris emphasised that Indigenous MPs represent everyone in their electorate instead of Indigenous communities, whereas the Voice, which is independent of the Government and Parliament, would be a voice for Indigenous people around the country to inform all MPs who would benefit from hearing the advice when making laws and policies about Indigenous communities. Kylea Tink MP also highlighted the importance of community voice feeding up to the Federal level because that’s where laws about Indigenous communities are made.
6. Kylea Tink MP shared her view that “growth only comes from a position of strength when you respect your history.” She sees the passing of the Voice referendum opening “a whole new way of us thinking about ourselves as a Nation … where people like us who don’t come from Indigenous backgrounds can actually start to lean back into that history as part of who we are now.” She also commended that Indigenous culture was about “sustainable living, treading lightly on this planet and looking after … the entire environment.”
Kylea Tink MP concluded the session by showing her commitment to continue to provide the right information to show why voting YES is not to be feared. She emphasised that voting YES is the way forward for us as a brave, optimistic country that we want our kids growing up in. Dr Shireen Morris encouraged multicultural communities to learn about the history of this land, “We’ve benefited so much from the democracy that was built on their land, and they’ve lost so much, and this (voting YES to the referendum) might be our one chance to give back.”
To schedule an interview with Kylea Tink MP, please email kylea.tink.mp@aph.gov.au
For more information on the above event, please contact Joyce Yuan at joyce@kyleatink.com.au or call 0432 530 383.
CALD Media Briefing on Voice to Parliament Referendum Key Takeaways and Insights added by akash upadhyay on
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