The Voice

[IFocus]

No point in firing up a hate campaign, it was a pretty conclusive vote and just because it didn't get up doesn't mean things aren't being done.

I'm sure there are many high profile people from the 'Yes" campaign, that received payment for their jobs also, many actually donated shareholder money from memory.

How many shares do you think the Wesfarmers, Rio and BHP execs, who gave the money to the Yes campaign, got this reporting season?
(Wesfarmers has donated $2 million to the Yes campaign ahead of the referendum on the Indigenous Voice, following donations from mining giants BHP and Rio Tinto.)

Ben Wyatt from the Yes campaign probably was also given shares by Rio, one would think, does that mean he falls under the same auspices as Mundine and therefore deserves the same criticism.

Former WA treasurer joins Rio Tinto board

Former West Australian Treasurer and Aboriginal Affairs Minister Ben Wyatt has joined the board of Rio Tinto, a year after its destruction of Juukan Gorge.

thewest.com.au

Ben Wyatt lends star power to Voice Yes campaign

The former senior McGowan Government Minister turned corporate high-flyer says he’s ‘very optimistic’ WA will back the Voice, despite polling showing support in the State is among the nation’s lowest.

thewest.com.au

From your post:

The stockman who turned 'black pennies' into a $180m Indigenous stolen wages settlement

Less than a century ago, Indigenous men were paid in small stone "coupons" for their work on cattle stations. Now, Mervyn Street has helped win those workers and their families landmark compensation.

www.abc.net.au

As I said during the 'voice' presentation, IMO it is far better to address the grievances, than to entrench a two tier society.
It would appear, you are more bitter about Labor losing the vote, than resolving the underlying aboriginal disadvantage issue.
As do those who took the junket to Alice Springs a while back, tokenism needs to replaced by action, as with the wages issue above.

Just because you disagree with Mundine and Price, doesn't make them a bad person and you a good person, it just means you have a different belief on how to address the issue, hopefully Albo re engages with the issue and the vindictiveness can stop.

The point was how the "elites" were running the yes campaign and here we have a real elite, nothing to do with bitterness or vindictiveness just pointing out the gross hypocrisy.

And where is plan "B" from the No vote campaign? Guess what there isn't one nada, nothing, SFA.

Price won't find it in London attacking the trans community and Wazza will be to busy raking in the $$'s.

As for junkets you forget Dutton and Prices token Alice visit for the photo ops didn't even speak with local Aborigines but attacked / slurred front line health care and child protection workers, total grubs IMHO.

Then there was the Dutton / Price call for a royal commission into child sexual abuse after the vote (to show how caring they are) nevermind the 33 reports since 1997, Bridgett Archer called it out for what it was and crossed the floor to vote against it.

Australia has voted down and rejected overwhelmly any sort of recognition or any sort of transparent representation in government discissions' that allows buy in and or affects their lives, that's the outcome.

Now you are standing around now saying something must be happening is going to happen after the above, its over the discussion is done.

 

[sptrawler]

The point was how the "elites" were running the yes campaign and here we have a real elite, nothing to do with bitterness or vindictiveness just pointing out the gross hypocrisy.

And where is plan "B" from the No vote campaign? Guess what there isn't one nada, nothing, SFA.

Price won't find it in London attacking the trans community and Wazza will be to busy raking in the $$'s.

As for junkets you forget Dutton and Prices token Alice visit for the photo ops didn't even speak with local Aborigines but attacked / slurred front line health care and child protection workers, total grubs IMHO.

Then there was the Dutton / Price call for a royal commission into child sexual abuse after the vote (to show how caring they are) nevermind the 33 reports since 1997, Bridgett Archer called it out for what it was and crossed the floor to vote against it.

Australia has voted down and rejected overwhelmly any sort of recognition or any sort of transparent representation in government discissions' that allows buy in and or affects their lives, that's the outcome.

Now you are standing around now saying something must be happening is going to happen after the above, its over the discussion is done.

I'm not as pessimistic as you, the 'voice' wasn't going to have any power to change anything anyway, so it was only going to be a token gesture anyway therefore to make out it was going to be in anyway earth shattering, is really a fanciful idea.
Your outrage and suggestion that "it is over, the discussion is done", flies in the face of your reaction.
It is obviously far from done, don't be so defeatist, you never know something better than tokenism may well come from it.
Attacking people because they don't agree with you, or your side of the debate is just another form of extremism, which everyone including yourself, points out is a very ugly trait..

 

[SirRumpole]

Now you are standing around now saying something must be happening is going to happen after the above, its over the discussion is done.

It's about time Linda Burney started doing her job imo.

What's wrong with holding a summit meeting with Aboriginal leaders ?

A jobs summit was held but business and unions don't need a Constitutional voice.

All very well making noises about "listening" if the pollies responsible just stay in Canberra and only talk to their departments.

 

[sptrawler]

It's about time Linda Burney started doing her job imo.

What's wrong with holding a summit meeting with Aboriginal leaders ?

A jobs summit was held but business and unions don't need a Constitutional voice.

All very well making noises about "listening" if the pollies responsible just stay in Canberra and only talk to their departments.

Obviously there was only one way to address this and because 60% of people disagreed the Government has decided that everything is off the table.
If a group of representatives who could make representation to parliament, was the answer, why can't that still be done.
It is either due to petulance on the Governments side, or a lack of sincerity, to say that it is done finished, off the table leans toward the lack of sincerity.
The Government has no trouble calling Royal Commissions, special investigative committees, consultative groups and a mirriad of other ways to hear representations.
To say the only way is to put it in the constitution and also say it has no other function than advisory, now that smacks of hypocrisy and lacks sincerity.
The Government is in office and may well be returned next election, they could quite easily initiate a representative group to parliament and show the effectiveness as it could have the same access as proposed in the Voice.
To completely abandon the idea, does indicate it was never expected to change the outcomes as intended, otherwise it would be plan B of the YES camp.
The reason for abandoning the whole idea of a representative committee seems to be flawed, by their own reasoning, if it was the only way forward.
it also highlights, why the population are very sceptical, of those who are supposedly representing them.

 

[macca]

In view of the fact we already have numerous agencies "working" on the Aboriginal problem, maybe we could make it mandatory for EVERY person in the industry who lives in Canberra to actually go to a community and stay for one week.

Observe first hand what problems THAT community has then go back to Canberra and make arrangements to actually fix them, one community at a time.

Can't pass the parcel then can they, you were there now fix it

ps Tony Abbott actually did this and was attacked by the Canberra mob

 

[SirRumpole]

ps Tony Abbott actually did this and was attacked by the Canberra mob

Yes he did and he came to the conclusion that the problems were intractable and the only solution was 'integration' of aboriginals into the mainstream society.

'We should end the separatism': Tony Abbott on the Voice - ABC listen

Nearly one million people have now voted early in the referendum on the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum, with nine days still to go. Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott has been campaigning for a NO vote, he claims that the voice is "wrong in principle and will be worse in practice."...

www.abc.net.au

 

[macca]

Yes he did and he came to the conclusion that the problems were intractable and the only solution was 'integration' of aboriginals into the mainstream society.

'We should end the separatism': Tony Abbott on the Voice - ABC listen

Nearly one million people have now voted early in the referendum on the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum, with nine days still to go. Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott has been campaigning for a NO vote, he claims that the voice is "wrong in principle and will be worse in practice."...

www.abc.net.au

The problem is some don't want to integrate into modern society, in particular those who live in remote areas seem rather averse to working in our "tradition sense"

I did find that those who live in towns and communities were keen on USA basketball league and also the Team T shirts, shoes etc it seemed quite odd to see people wearing $100 Tshirts while claiming to be hard done by

I really do believe that the majority of us would love to see life improve for them but we are using our criteria to judge them. Maybe they actually like sitting in the shade with a cool one, I don't mind it myself actually

The answer varies so much between the City, the towns and the remotes they need a specialist for each category.

Around here, if they were building houses for them they would have to allow room for the boat, the jet ski, the caravan and have 3 garages to fit every ones cars.

We mingle very well because there are Aboriginal people working in all sorts of jobs, the Land Council trains people for work and it is really gathering momentum after about 8 years.

Over 80% are in mixed race marriages but I suppose there are some who are still racist, much the same as with Asians or Muslims.

If we look at Taree and Kempsey though it is very different, the Elders there are working with Police to try to teach youngsters that a good life is available if they will only stop thinking like victims and start being ambitious.

The world is always moving on, you can sit under a tree and cry poor me or you can fire up and use the opportunities to go to Uni.

Personal choice with very different results after 10 years of life.

 

[IFocus]

I'm not as pessimistic as you, the 'voice' wasn't going to have any power to change anything anyway, so it was only going to be a token gesture anyway therefore to make out it was going to be in anyway earth shattering, is really a fanciful idea.
Your outrage and suggestion that "it is over, the discussion is done", flies in the face of your reaction.
It is obviously far from done, don't be so defeatist, you never know something better than tokenism may well come from it.
Attacking people because they don't agree with you, or your side of the debate is just another form of extremism, which everyone including yourself, points out is a very ugly trait..

You don't get it, no government or politician will ever do this again, ever, or attempt to put Aboriginal issues centre to Australians such was the rejection.

Why, the politics are utterly toxic Price and Mundine central to that fact denying Aboriginals a place at the table that they visit , Albanese is one of the few politicians that actually GAF virtually no PM's before have really had a go and none will every do so again, the polls confirm that if you support Aboriginal aspirations then you get fried there is no glory in Aboriginal affairs and no hope name a politician that would have a go against that.

The polling supports the low life position of Dutton and Price, its over note Albanese's body language when conceding the outcome, it wasn't due to defeat it was due to the fact that there was no hope for the future such was the rejection from the Australian people.

The vote against was so significant that there isn't any way forward when there are no votes in doing so then it really is over.

Its over at least for my life time.

 

[IFocus]

ps Tony Abbott actually did this and was attacked by the Canberra mob

Sorry Macca but Abbot was a real dog that's being generous he took lots of photo opportunities every year camped with some of the mobs and talked a lot but essentially did SFA, I believe he did cut funding ($500 mil total planning on cutting a further $600 mil next budget) but did nothing else literally.

A bit below about Abbot and Mundine

Tony Abbott’s hypocrisy on Indigenous issues knows no bounds​

“An example of this hypocrisy: Warren Mundine received $330,000 from the Indigenous Advancement Strategy for a TV show on Sky called "Mundine Means Business", while our communities went without programs to support community safety, get kids to school or our people into jobs.

Tony Abbott’s hypocrisy on Indigenous issues knows no bounds

Tony Abbott's hypocrisy on Indigenous issues knows no bounds

ulurustatement.org

Nova Peris

I am sure we all remember the media coverage our Prime Minister received when he proclaimed that he aspired to be 'the Prime Minister for Aboriginal Australians'. This budget confirms that what this government says and what they do are two different things. Some of our most vulnerable people in this country will be hurt the hardest. This is a budget that well and truly widens the gap on Indigenous disadvantage. My electorate of the Northern Territory has the highest proportion of Aboriginal people in Australia and, make no mistake, they will be hurt more than people anywhere else by these savage cuts. Tony Abbott promised to be the Prime Minister for Aboriginal Affairs. Well, it is now clear that he was not telling us the truth. Indigenous Australians put their trust in Tony Abbott, and they are being repaid by having half a billion dollars slashed from Indigenous Affairs.

ParlInfo - QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE: TAKE NOTE OF ANSWERS : Budget

Search engine for Australian parliamentary documents and media.

parlinfo.aph.gov.au

 

[sptrawler]

You don't get it, no government or politician will ever do this again, ever, or attempt to put Aboriginal issues centre to Australians such was the rejection.

I agree, no politician will try to use the constitution, to achieve something that could be achieved through normal channels.

Why, the politics are utterly toxic Price and Mundine central to that fact denying Aboriginals a place at the table that they visit , Albanese is one of the few politicians that actually GAF virtually no PM's before have really had a go and none will every do so again, the polls confirm that if you support Aboriginal aspirations then you get fried there is no glory in Aboriginal affairs and no hope name a politician that would have a go against that.

If Albanese GAF, he could achieve exactly the same outcome through normal channels, the fact he threw in the towel would indicate to many he actually doesn't GAF.

The polling supports the low life position of Dutton and Price, its over note Albanese's body language when conceding the outcome, it wasn't due to defeat it was due to the fact that there was no hope for the future such was the rejection from the Australian people.

The vote against was so significant that there isn't any way forward when there are no votes in doing so then it really is over.

Its over at least for my life time.

To establish a representative lobby group to parliament, doesn't require a change to the constitution, having a melodramatic meltdown doesn't change that fact.
If indeed it was imperative that a representative group was formed, it still can be, if one isn't formed it indicates that was never the underlying driver in the first place.
What the general public were wary of IMO, was that a sector of the population get special dispensation, that isn't afforded to everyone. That isn't what most people think a constitution should be used for, it isn't there to provide welfare, training modules, and housing.

The referendum IMO has also put the Republic debate back years, as it highlighted the question are we better served by politicians that have very defined limits, or do we think our politicians should be given greater scope to mould our society.
The referendum brought that to the fore and I think they were shocked, that Australia isn't as apathetic and compliant as they presumed.

 

[Smurf1976]

Why, the politics are utterly toxic Price and Mundine central to that fact denying Aboriginals a place at the table that they visit

Denying a place at the table?

Last I checked, Aboriginals have exactly the same rights to representation, be that via their local MP or by means of becoming a politician themselves, as every other Australian citizen.

 

[Smurf1976]

If indeed it was imperative that a representative group was formed, it still can be, if one isn't formed it indicates that was never the underlying driver in the first place.

Bingo.

Government can still achieve the desired result assuming that actually was the desired result.

The referendum outcome isn't comparable to (for random examples) saying you can't have a bridge anywhere over Sydney Habour or saying that there can't be a uranium mine anywhere in the state. Either of those would be the actual end of a concept.

This is more akin to saying there won't be a direct bus service from your suburb to the event you wish to attend. There is however a bus to the CBD and there are buses from the CBD to the event. You can still get there, just not as directly as you'd originally hoped. To use it as an excuse for not attending at all would be lame to say the least, suggesting you didn't really want to go and were just looking for a reason.

I contend what government's really unhappy about is a situation akin to the worker who was hoping the meeting would last all day. Nope, it didn't. Meeting's over and there's now no reason to not get to work.

 

[JohnDe]

You don't get it, no government or politician will ever do this again, ever, or attempt to put Aboriginal issues centre to Australians such was the rejection.

Why, the politics are utterly toxic Price and Mundine central to that fact denying Aboriginals a place at the table that they visit , Albanese is one of the few politicians that actually GAF virtually no PM's before have really had a go and none will every do so again, the polls confirm that if you support Aboriginal aspirations then you get fried there is no glory in Aboriginal affairs and no hope name a politician that would have a go against that.

The polling supports the low life position of Dutton and Price, its over note Albanese's body language when conceding the outcome, it wasn't due to defeat it was due to the fact that there was no hope for the future such was the rejection from the Australian people.

The vote against was so significant that there isn't any way forward when there are no votes in doing so then it really is over.

Its over at least for my life time.

No, it is YOU that doesn't get it.

Jacinta boldly and clearly articulated that the way forward for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people lies not in merely throwing more money at a problem with little accountability, nor in the disempowering politics of grievance culture.​

​

It lies in the fundamental values that helped Australia grow to become a wealthy and free land of opportunity: the equality of opportunity, respect for the individual, reward for effort, and the strong social fabric that comes from smaller, more accountable governments.​

​

And along with her colleague Nyunggai Warren Mundine, she was prepared to articulate an uncomfortable truth: that all the programs in the world won’t make a difference unless individuals in disadvantage can be persuaded to also make better choices for themselves and their families. That’s not to blame anyone, but to accept the power of human agency.​

​

As a consequence, she has fundamentally restored in the mind of Australians the importance of a truth that was being gradually ebbed away: that equality is about the human dignity of all, and not about race or, as Bob Hawke once put it, some “hierarchy of descent”.​

Jacinta Price has turned conventional political wisdom on its head​

The Nationals senator has restored in the minds of Australians the value of the truth that equality is about the human dignity of all, and not about race.

In the thumping rejection of the prime minister’s proposal to change the Constitution lie a number of lessons for those who seek to lead and serve this country. And their perfect symbol is the woman of the moment, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price.

The first of those is one for state and federal parties of the centre-right: that there is no fait accompli in politics, and that the future is there to be written by those prepared to courageously stand for worthy causes from a position of principle.

Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and Nyunggai Warren Mundine at a press conference in Brisbane on Saturday. Dan Peled

About a year out from the referendum, the almost universal advice given by pollsters and political professionals to the Coalition was that the Voice proposal had to be supported, because public support was so high that it could not possibly be defeated – whether or not it had merit.

Jacinta has, in what seems like just moments after her election, proved them wrong.

The conventional wisdom conveyed to new parliamentarians is to sit down, shut up and work for local services and infrastructure rather than any major reform or national issue.

Jacinta did not. She boldly and clearly articulated that the way forward for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people lies not in merely throwing more money at a problem with little accountability, nor in the disempowering politics of grievance culture.

It lies in the fundamental values that helped Australia grow to become a wealthy and free land of opportunity: the equality of opportunity, respect for the individual, reward for effort, and the strong social fabric that comes from smaller, more accountable governments.

And along with her colleague Nyunggai Warren Mundine, she was prepared to articulate an uncomfortable truth: that all the programs in the world won’t make a difference unless individuals in disadvantage can be persuaded to also make better choices for themselves and their families. That’s not to blame anyone, but to accept the power of human agency.

As a consequence, she has fundamentally restored in the mind of Australians the importance of a truth that was being gradually ebbed away: that equality is about the human dignity of all, and not about race or, as Bob Hawke once put it, some “hierarchy of descent”.

We are defined by what we do – because that is the best reflection of who we are. And each of us has the opportunity ever day to improve: not by demanding some far away institution do better, but by doing better ourselves and reaching out to help others in practical ways.

Jacinta has inflicted a body blow against the divisive ideology of identity politics that has been pushing quotas and advancement based on arbitrary biological attributes rather than merit or substance for at least two decades; an ideology that has been eaten up greedily by governments and a corporate Australia desperate to assuage its guilt, claim virtue and earn the fawning of the urban and fashionable class.


Until now, there hasn’t been an opportunity for the Australian people to send a clear message on the impacts of this divisive ideology. But the referendum was. It would be a terrible mistake for any party of government not to heed it.

In a media statement that clearly represented the attitudes of Labor’s leaders and the largely urban media types, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk led with this: “The Australian people have spoken. And their voice tells me they’re not ready. Not yet.”

The “not yet” shows that the parties of the left have not in fact accepted the significance of the result. Carried in that language is a deeply held belief that No voters are under-educated and under-evolved; and that with more time being subtly (or not so subtly) called racists, they will climb on board. It’s insulting and out of touch.

The lesson for the Coalition is that the electorate is hungry for leadership that’s prepared to fight for what is right on principle, even when it is hard. That those who tell us not to bother fighting culture wars do so because they are the people who are already winning them. And that there is a direct link between culture and prosperity that, if not appreciated, will undermine the Coalition parties’ greatest electoral strengths for the long term.

There is no doubt Jacinta and her family went through a hailstorm of abuse and slurs in the course of this campaign. But in her we have proof that the hard road to political service that most Liberal and National women face in the absence of quotas is also their biggest strength. Battle-hardened, Jacinta was able to withstand the ugliness of the Yes campaign’s attempts to tear her down, and emerge capable of bringing people of so many walks of life together.

That hard road is what means she is no one-trick pony; that she will contribute substantially across the gamut of policy issues, and that she will do it with authenticity and understanding for the shared values of Australians.


The comparison between her performance and that of her counterparts from Labor could not have been more stark. Linda Burney was rarely across her brief and treated Australians with contempt as she repeatedly refused to answer reasonable questions about the proposal for constitutional change. Even her late-game substitute for the Spotlight debate on Channel 7, Malarndirri McCarthy, rambled incoherently in what was a good summary of the big-on-feelings, low-on-detail approach of the Yes campaign.

It’s the strength that lies in so many of the Coalition’s women. Their road is hard, to be sure. But it’s what makes them able to stand with courage, unite Australians in commonsense and shared values, and ultimately, make the biggest possible difference.

And that’s more empowering than identity politics could ever be.

 

[macca]

No, it is YOU that doesn't get it.

Jacinta boldly and clearly articulated that the way forward for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people lies not in merely throwing more money at a problem with little accountability, nor in the disempowering politics of grievance culture.​

​

It lies in the fundamental values that helped Australia grow to become a wealthy and free land of opportunity: the equality of opportunity, respect for the individual, reward for effort, and the strong social fabric that comes from smaller, more accountable governments.​

​

And along with her colleague Nyunggai Warren Mundine, she was prepared to articulate an uncomfortable truth: that all the programs in the world won’t make a difference unless individuals in disadvantage can be persuaded to also make better choices for themselves and their families. That’s not to blame anyone, but to accept the power of human agency.​

​

As a consequence, she has fundamentally restored in the mind of Australians the importance of a truth that was being gradually ebbed away: that equality is about the human dignity of all, and not about race or, as Bob Hawke once put it, some “hierarchy of descent”.​

As was shown in WA a state is quite capable of making laws that strongly favour aboriginal people but the majority objected loudly and they were repealed But it does prove that Govt do have the power to make such laws.

The whole thing with the Voice was an ego trip for a select few in Canberra, Fed Govt could have made the laws a year ago and the $200m blown on bull**** could have been spent fixing problems instead of ego trips

 

[JohnDe]

They just can't let it go or understand what 60% of Australians understood.

The final expert was Thomas Mayo, the pro-voice campaigner who has previously said the “embarrassing” referendum had made it “hard for Australia now to talk about human rights to other countries like China”.​

No voice of reason in BBC’s bungled hit job on referendum

If the BBC really wanted to understand last month’s voice referendum result, it would’ve been a good idea to talk to Australians who voted No.
That appears not to have crossed the minds of the producers of the BBC World Service podcast The Inquiry, who instead assembled a panel of experts whose sympathies lay with the Yes case.

This was not the BBC’s finest half-hour.

It began with a cartoonish history of Australian settlement with the assistance of John Maynard, emeritus professor of Indigenous education and research at the University of Newcastle. Aboriginal people had first been driven to the brink of extinction by colonial settlement before suffering “more than a century and a half of discrimination and exploitation … herded on to worthless areas of land … given inadequate housing, clothing, inadequate diet, which has impacted on to Aboriginal health right up to today”.

But things began to look up in 2008 when the presenter told us, “prime minister Paul Rudd (not a misprint) made a formal apology to the country’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples”.

The referendum proposal was a chance to take reconciliation to the next level. Still, it had been inexplicably knocked back in what host David Baker described as “yet another setback in the Indigenous fight to be heard”.

Expert number two was Tim Soutphommasane, well known to readers of this newspaper as a former Australian Human Rights Commissioner, who attacked the late cartoonist Bill Leak for racially stereotyping Aboriginal Australians. Soutphommasane is now chief diversity officer at Oxford University.

Professor Soutphommasane told us that campaigners had assumed “that the better angels of Australians’ nature would prevail”. Yet many Australians didn’t have an Indigenous friend, colleague or neighbour: “So understanding the significance of the voice … was something that many people just simply could not grasp.”

Andrea Carson, of La Trobe University, took up the underlying stupidity of non-expert Australians. “Australia is still very much a materialist country,” the professor explained. “They’re not thinking about higher-order issues such as human rights and equality.”

The No camp had generated “a lot of myths and disinformation”, and had a clearer social media campaign, and Australians had fallen for it.

The final expert was Thomas Mayo, the pro-voice campaigner who has previously said the “embarrassing” referendum had made it “hard for Australia now to talk about human rights to other countries like China”.

He laid the blame on Peter Dutton and an egregious misinformation campaign. He singled out the claim that the voice would have divided Australians by race, which he said was false and misleading. “It wasn’t about race,” he said. “Indigenous peoples aren’t a different race. We are a distinct people with a heritage and culture.”

Mayo’s social media posts claiming the voice would pave the way for reparations, forcing non-Indigenous Australians to pay the rent, were a setback for the Yes campaign. Yet Mayo told the BBC: “It was a simple message, just recognition through an advisory committee.

“We kept repeating that, but we just couldn’t get through. We are a nation frozen in time.”

If the podcast aimed to confirm the comfortable prejudices of social justice campaigners, the producers did a first-class job.

The referendum result confirmed in their minds that Australians are indeed stupid, borderline racist, selfish and uncaring.

Australians had stubbornly refused to understand what the referendum was about and had been duped by a slick misinformation campaign.

It reinforced their dark view of history, a long struggle for liberation from the forces of evil, an unequal contest between the oppressors and the permanently oppressed, from which we will only emerge when the vision of the anointed holds sway.

The show confirmed the expert class’s high estimation of itself. They are the people concerned about higher things whose ears are more finely tuned to the voices of the better angels.

Never once did the show take a detour from this self-serving narrative by asking if the 60 per cent of Australians who voted no might have had a point. Nursing historical grievances and locking a race-based institution permanently into the Constitution may indeed have been measures that would push Australians further apart. It may have led to more racism, not less, and denied Aboriginal Australians the path towards integration as fellow citizens.

Yet the die had been cast at the top of the show when Baker framed the question the experts were on hand to answer: “What went wrong with Australia’s Indigenous call for a voice?”

It ruled out any possibility that voters had got it right.

Nick Cater is senior fellow at the Menzies Research Centre.

 

[moXJO]

So why didn't albo just legislate a voice to parliament?

 

[SirRumpole]

No Voice eh ? Yeah right.

Federal Court rules in favour of Tiwi traditional owner Simon Munkara, Santos Barossa pipeline blocked again​

Federal Court blocks part of Santos' multi-billion-dollar pipeline in latest setback against Barossa project

A traditional owner has succeeded in his bid to stop energy giant Santos from starting work on an underwater pipeline near the Tiwi Islands — but work on another section has been allowed to resume.

www.abc.net.au

 

[farmerge]

No Voice eh ? Yeah right.

Federal Court rules in favour of Tiwi traditional owner Simon Munkara, Santos Barossa pipeline blocked again​

Federal Court blocks part of Santos' multi-billion-dollar pipeline in latest setback against Barossa project

A traditional owner has succeeded in his bid to stop energy giant Santos from starting work on an underwater pipeline near the Tiwi Islands — but work on another section has been allowed to resume.

www.abc.net.au

Hmmm I wonder when the cheque book is brought out will this scenario change "to it's OK, go ahead, the woggle or whatever will not be disturbed".

 

[sptrawler]

No Voice eh ? Yeah right.

Federal Court rules in favour of Tiwi traditional owner Simon Munkara, Santos Barossa pipeline blocked again​

Federal Court blocks part of Santos' multi-billion-dollar pipeline in latest setback against Barossa project

A traditional owner has succeeded in his bid to stop energy giant Santos from starting work on an underwater pipeline near the Tiwi Islands — but work on another section has been allowed to resume.

www.abc.net.au

The latest ruling by the High Court regarding the release of criminal detainees, highlights how problematic dealing with issues through the High Court can be, it is strange that only 60% of the population could see that..

 

[SirRumpole]

The latest ruling by the High Court regarding the release of criminal detainees, highlights how problematic dealing with issues through the High Court can be, it is strange that only 60% of the population could see that..

Too many "Lefties" on the High Court.