An Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice is still needed in parliament, yes campaigners say a year after the referendum defeat.
More than 60 per cent of Australians voted ‘no’ in the referendum on 14 October 2023, with all states and territories except the ACT rejecting the proposal to establish a permanent advisory body and constitutional recognition of the peoples of the First Nations.
One of the architects of Uluru’s Statement from the Heart, Megan Davis, said a voice, whether constitutional or statutory, is still needed.
“The no vote was actually a no change vote and consequently there has been no change,” he told AAP.
Professor Davis said structural change was needed to make a difference to people’s lives, and state treaties and truth-telling processes would not be enough.
“Any state process, whether voice, treaty or truth, is vulnerable to political change, as we have seen when the Northern Territory abandoned truth after its recent election,” he said.
“Without a coordinated national Voice, we are stuck in piecemeal approaches that will not achieve the lasting change First Nations People need across the country.”
Despite the defeat, Thomas Mayo, a leading proponent of the “yes” vote, said constitutional change could still come in the future, he said in an interview with ABC presenter Patricia Karvelas.
Thomas Mayo (pictured) said there is still a need for a voice for indigenous people and he is hopeful for constitutional change, a year after the referendum loss.
It has been one year since the referendum on the indigenous voice in parliament was held and the yes vote was lost
“Do you accept that this particular proposal, given that it has been rejected by the Australian people, is dead or do you think it might still have a future?” Karvelas asked.
‘There is still a future that includes indigenous peoples in the constitution. Sure, it won’t actually happen again for a while,” Mayo responded.
“It will be some time before any politician has the courage to put it to the people and hope for the best.”
‘We don’t always get things right in a democracy. If we accepted the “no” answers we received about equal pay or our right to vote as indigenous people… things would be worse today.
“Because more than 60 percent of young people voted ‘yes’ between the ages of 18 and 24, that tells me we have a future, and what we tried to do last year will be achieved.”
He also criticized the No campaign.
“Most of the people who voted against it were probably due to confusion tactics, but they were also afraid of losing something personally.
‘And the slogan “if you don’t know, vote no” was, unfortunately, extremely powerful.
He said Yes activists overheard No activists making false claims about The Voice at polling stations.
‘They said people were going to use their backyard, their farms, things like that, so I don’t think people would vote no on progress.
“Unfortunately they fell for the tactics that were used.”
Indigenous Australians opposition spokesperson Jacinta Nampijinpa Price said the referendum remained a waste of time and money.
“It was a task that ended up dividing our country, and at a time when we do not need to be divided, and unfortunately, the Albanian government put all its eggs in one basket,” he told ABC TV.
“The Albanian government has not implemented any method to improve circumstances or change things on the ground.”
Following the referendum result, Indigenous academic Marcia Langton declared that reconciliation was dead.
But Senator Nampijinpa Price said voice supporters needed to move forward.
“The ‘yes’ supporters must let go, accept the result, because Australia made that determination, and move on,” he said.
“There are marginalized Indigenous Australians whose lives need to be positively impacted right now.”
Labor Minister Murray Watt said the government made the right decision to proceed with the referendum despite signs it was heading for defeat in the polls.
“This was a proposal to enshrine the rights of First Nations people in our constitution and we did not think it was appropriate to ignore their wishes, either at the start of the campaign or as it progressed,” he told ABC radio.
“This is going to be a pretty painful day for First Nations Australians – there were a lot of hopes pinned on the voice to parliament proposal.”