VOICE Thoughts from Others

Listed are a few of the many quotes from respected and informed people who are advocating a NO vote in the VOICE referendum due in the last quarter of this year.
It's not difficult to find more of what these people say by searching for them on the internet.

Jacinta Nampijinpa Price
"This Voice will not unite us, it will divide us by race."

Janet Albrechtsen
"This country should be removing provisions in the Constitution that divide Australians by race, not adding a new, more dangerous and divisive, one to our founding document. "

Tony Abbott
“My absolute desire is that we can go forward as one equal people and that’s why I’ll be voting no. Because I absolutely reject any suggestion that there is something fundamentally wrong with this great country, Australia.”

Robert Gottliebston
'We now know the Uluru statement wants the voice body to be designed so that it “could support and promote” a treaty-making process as “a pathway to recognition of sovereignty” and “the vehicle to achieve self-determination, autonomy and self-government”'.

And this quote from a very strong Yes advocate:

Noel Pearson
"Though it has historically hurt my people more than others, racial categorisations dehumanise us all. It dehumanises us because we are each individuals, and we should be judged as individuals. We should be rewarded on our merits and assisted in our needs. Race should not matter."

Blessings, Barry

Random VOICE Thoughts

Democracy
There's really only one question to answer when you consider your vote at the VOICE referendum:
Should Australians have different rights in our democracy based on their race or the colour of their skin?
Or does a democracy promote equality for its citizens?

National Anthem
Our national anthem has recently been adjusted to include the line "We are one and free".
While this remains only an aspiration rather than a reality, we certainly will not move toward that reality with the VOICE, which creates raced-based privilege in our Constitution.

Welcome to Country
My wife welcomes me home when I return after being at work or out for a while. That warm welcome is a return to my home and wife and done regularly out of love.
But welcome to country is the welcome of a visitor to another's country, and preformed regularly to help people remember that they are indeed considered visitors.

Constitution
Whatever racism resides in our nation is not removed by adding racism to our constitution.

Blessings, Barry
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Published BLOG at https://barrysgracespace.blogspot.com
Other published Writings at https://www.ibtechservices.com.au

Voice Leads to Treaty

As you already know, I will be voting No at the coming referendum to avoid the possibility of dividing Australia into two separate nations.

However, if you think we need a treaty between aboriginal peoples and the rest of Australians then you will need to vote yes for the Voice.
Why?
Because there can be no Australia-wide treaty without an Australia-wide Voice.
The Voice creates a legally established body to represent the aboriginal peoples which can make agreements with other bodies, including the Australian government.

I appreciate that the PM is often saying that the Voice can only offer the parliament and executive government advice, but that's not true. If you have read the full 26-page 'Uluru Statement from the Heart' (and the minutes of the dialogues which led to its creation) you will know very clearly the real purpose of the Voice.
And the PM has committed to implementing the Uluru Statement in full.

Also, if the Voice is made an equal entity in The Constitution with The Parliament, The Executive Government and the Judicature, as is proposed in this referendum, it potentially has as much authority as those other bodies.

Some people say that a treaty should have been arranged very early in the life of the colony when the British first arrived, but that could not have happened as there was no official aboriginal body with which to make a treaty.
This problem will now be solved by the creation of the Voice, an official aboriginal body created in the constitution to legally represent aboriginal peoples, that will require the government to make a treaty.

Treaties are made between two nations, so if you think we should have a treaty you are encouraging us to split and become two nations.
It will not bring us together, as advocates of the Voice are saying, but will clearly divide us into two nations, and do it with the backing and permanency of the constitution.
If this is your preference you need to vote yes in the coming referendum.

I do not wish that to happen.
So I will be voting No to avoid the establishment of this divisive and undemocratic change to our constitution.

I want us to remain one nation and for us to do better with the billions of dollars we spend each year supposedly improving the opportunities and living conditions of aboriginals who have not become as well off as those who have already benefitted from the advantages brought by the original British and subsequent multinational immigrants that make Australia the successful liberal, western democracy it has become.
(The closing the gap really needed is for the gap to be closed between the living conditions of aboriginal 'elites' and those barely existing in remote communities, for whom too few of those billions seem to be getting through.)

Blessings, Barry

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Published BLOG at https://barrysgracespace.blogspot.com
Other published Writings at https://www.ibtechservices.com.au