18/12/2021
Minister Wyatt has just released the final report on the Indigenous Voice proposal. He announces that the government will now:
• Commence discussions with States, Territories and local governments,
• Appoint a Local & Regional Voice Establishment Group, and
•Engage with stakeholders.
The report can be downloaded. It is 272 pages long.
My first reaction to the report is not enthusiastic, as the report does not seem to promote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights, or surpass previous government efforts to 'design' Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representation, nor make for easy reading for the stakeholders.
Yes, there are a few innovative ideas - very few - such as creating a formal relationship between 'Voice' representatives and a new joint parliamentary committee.
The election of representatives to the Voice is going to be a cumbersome process which seems to achieve no more than create a fifth version, following the four previous models endorsed by government. Those previous models lasted about seven years on average; mostly being abolished by Liberal administrations each time they came into power.
Of course, as usual, there will be no shortage of people willing to put their hand up to be elected to the Voice, but we can expect that there will be a shortage of voters.
There is almost no indication of the amopunt of resources that would be available to establish and operate this national, regional and local voice. I see there is an intention for almost all elected representatives would be part-time, bar the few top office holders.
And dId I get the impression that the National Indigenous Australian Agency (NIAA) is the bureaucratic operation in this proposed arrangement? If so this means that more government bureaucrats, not community-based officials will be preparing the paperwork of the Voice?
So now this proposal for the Voice feels like no more than a stripped-down and beaten-up version of ATSIC. The only real change is that for every position on the Voice there must be two people - one man and one woman. Are they so concerned?
Really? If that design feature is so futuristic why is this 'innovation' only applied to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander structures and not white institutions like corporations and parliaments, OR, thinking about 'balance' why don't we just have an Aboriginal parliamentarian for every 25 parliamentarians? That sounds like a better approach to equality, rather than just having two people for every job!
This latest proposal to benefit the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population seems on a par with Australia's stance at the United Nations General Assembly - along with other former British colonial settler-States of Canada, USA and New Zealand - when it defied the UN human rights stance to vote against the adoption of the Declaration on the rights of Indigenous Peoples.
But sadly Australia's position is now far below the relationships now developed between governments and Indigenous Peoples in Canada, USA and New Zealand. Those nations strongly support the principle of self-determination and have made laws and structural arrangements to respect self-determination. Australia cannot bear to even say the word. And the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members on the Voice 'designer committees' dare not accept self-determination as a fundamental requirement for any modern proposal for race relations in Australia.
The message delivered in this report is a poor and uninspired outcome more than ten years after the major political parties first committed to amend the constitution and recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. In truth the report reflects the policies and attitudes of the 1950s when States decided Aboriginal affairs and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were to be governed and controlled from above - kept divisive and weak.
There is no undertaking to reach a new level of relationship between the first nations and the dominant, colonial administration. There is no indication that there will be sufficient resources made available to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community to participate in any way in the governance of our affairs and our development for the future.
Worst of all there is no indication of an approach for 'Truth and Justice' or 'Treaty' in this report, given that the proposal to change the Constitution was taken off the table years ago.
Before reading the report one should prepare to be bored and greatly disappointed with the work of the 50-odd individuals hand-picked by the government from our population who are associated with this report.
It is not surprising there is no fanfare, event-invites and parliamentary tabling of this report (during the summer holidays).
Perhaps it will get some airing at the 50th anniversary of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy.
Indigenous Voice Co-Design Final Report Release Date 17 December 2021 Media release The Morrison Government has delivered on its commitment to co-design an Indigenous Voice with the release of the Indigenous Voice Co-design Final Report to the Australian Government. Minister for Indigenous Australia...
