An Indigenous professor warns that changing the date for Australia Day is only a “warm and fuzzy” idea that will have no real impact on the lives of Indigenous Australians.
- The professor warned that changing the date for Australia Day would not make a real difference
- Megan Davis said the move would only be “symbolic” and fail to address the real issues
- She said that people who want change should support the introduction of the voice in parliament
An Indigenous professor said that fixing the Indigenous voice in Parliament was the thing that would really have a meaningful impact on the lives of Indigenous Australians, not change the date of Australia Day.
Megan Davis, the leading campaigner for Indigenous Voices to Parliament, claimed the rescheduling would only be “symbolic” and would give people a “warm and fuzzy idea of reconciliation”.
She said Australians who wanted to make a real difference should support constitutional changes such as a vote in Parliament.
Pressure to change the date for Australia Day will not have a real impact on the lives of Indigenous Australians, according to Indigenous professor
Indigenous Voice to Parliament leadership campaigner Megan Davis claimed the date change would only be “symbolic” and would give people a “warm and fuzzy idea of reconciliation”.
“Supporting ‘changing history’ is a good thing, but supporting a referendum and declaring Parliament vote is something that will make a difference on the ground,” said Professor Davis. Sydney Morning Herald.
It’s a tangible fix. So if a date change comes next, that makes a lot of sense, but a date change without any substantial reform is a symbolic move.
Aboriginal people voted to Parliament for a proposed body that would advise the Federal Parliament on Aboriginal matters.
Prof Davis said it would finally allow indigenous people to be part of a democratic system “In a way they weren’t awake yet.”
Professor Davis has been pushing for a constitutionally enshrined vote for years.
She is a Cobble Cobble woman, co-chair of the Uluru Dialogue and one of the architects of the 2017 Uluru Manifesto from the Heart.
Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney has revealed that the government intends to bring legislation to Parliament in March to hold the referendum.
Prof Davis said Australians who wanted to make a real difference should support constitutional changes such as a vote in parliament
Ms Burney said the Yes campaign would likely start in late February.
“Once all of that is mobilized, I think we will have a country ready for change,” she said.
Ms Burney said the legislation would be scrutinized by a parliamentary committee once it was introduced.
The government will seek to pass the legislation through parliament in May, which could allow a vote to take place as early as August or as late as November.
A spokesman for Shadow Attorney General Julian Lesser said the opposition had asked for “serious details” on the constitutional change, which is significant because the majority of referendums in Australia have failed.
“Australians are naturally cautious about changes to our founding document,” he said.
Prof Davies said the vote before Parliament would finally allow Aboriginal people to be part of a democratic system “in a way they haven’t been awake until now”.
Australians will want details on how the sound works, and that’s only fair considering the government is asking Australians to decide.
Last year, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the draft question for voters would be: “Do you support an amendment to the Constitution that creates an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander vote?”
Mr. Albanese reiterated that he believed the question of whether a vote should be enshrined in the Constitution should be a simple yes-or-no referendum.
The Citizens announced that they would not support the referendum despite the split within the party after Kalar MP Andrew Gee split from the party as an independent to support the campaign.
The Liberals led by Peter Dutton have yet to take a stand on the referendum, but the opposition leader has repeatedly called on the government to release more details on what form the vote would take.
