By Wollongong YES23 volunteer and campaigner Jeremy Lasek
While the real campaigning for the Voice to recognise our First Nations people in the constitution is only weeks old, I’m finding one of the biggest challenges facing us YES supporters is dispelling the myths of the naysayers.
And that list of myths, and out-and-out lies, seems to keep growing daily.
Just last week one prominent politician said The Voice is partly to blame for the cost-of-living challenges facing Australia right now. This, just his latest ploy to try to derail the whole discussion, creates more confusion and, in so doing, strengthens the NO case.
Over the next few weeks, I’ll do my best to do some ‘myth busting’ and to provide a contrary view to some of the misinformation that seems to be gaining momentum from those who don’t believe our First Nations people deserve to be heard about issues that impact them directly.
Why change the constitution?
A mate at my local gym told me this week he’s undecided about which way to vote because he reckons our Constitution has served us well for more than a century and it probably doesn’t need changing.
I agree on one point. It’s a good constitution. But I reckon it could be better.
To provide some context, a bit of a history lesson. Please bear with me, those who aren’t into history.
The Australian Constitution Bill was first drafted by Sir Samuel Griffith, then Premier of Queensland, and was revised by Sir Samuel, Sir Edmund Barton, Mr Charles Kingston and Mr Andrew Inglis Clark.
All of this was finalised aboard the Queensland Government yacht Lucinda, during the Easter break of the 1891 Convention, which was held in Sydney.
After many more reviews, the final draft was finally approved in a set of referendums from 1898 to 1900. The Act was given royal assent on 9 July 1900, was proclaimed on 17 September 1900 and entered into force on 1 January 1901.
So, what’s the point?
All very interesting I hear you say, so what’s your point?
My point is simple; well over a century ago a small group of ageing Anglo Saxon men (no women, no First Nations People, no one representing multicultural Australia) drew up our constitution. And again, to be perfectly honest, it’s served us pretty well.
But that shouldn’t mean it can’t change ever so slightly to reflect our modern Australia.
The constitution can only be amended by referendum, requiring a ‘double majority’ – a nationwide majority as well as a majority of voters in a majority of states.
Since 1901, 44 referendums have been held to change the constitution, but only eight amendments have been passed.
History shows changing the constitution is no easy task. That’s the challenge facing those of us who are advocating for a change when we vote in about three months’ time.
Australia today doesn’t look like it did in 1901
As I explained to my mate at the gym, Australia is a vastly different place now to what it was back in the days when the constitution was drafted. That was long before two World Wars, the Great Depression and at a time when most Australians still travelled on horseback.
In the early 1900s, it was commonly believed that our Aboriginal population was heading towards extinction. Maybe that explains why they were totally overlooked in our constitution for so long.
Fast-forward to 1967, when, as a nation, we recognised – and in huge numbers – the need to update the constitution. This finally allowed Aboriginal people to be included in the Census and altered the constitution to allow the parliament to ‘make laws for peace, order and good government’ for all Australians, where previously Aboriginal people had been specifically excluded.
A once-in-a-lifetime decision
So, here we are, 56 years later, with another big constitutional decision to make.
Having acknowledged, two generations ago in the '60s, that we should include our First Nations people as being ‘one of us’, we’ll soon be asked to enshrine in our constitution whether we should ‘hear them’ by giving them a voice that can never be taken away or silenced, as has happened so often in the past at the whim of the government of the day.
In her speech to the National Press Club last week, the Minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, highlighted the need for a Voice to be enshrined in the constitution rather than legislated.
"A Voice … cannot be truly independent or give frank advice to the government of the day if the government of the day can abolish it," she said.
"Secondly, it is what First Peoples requested in the Uluru Statement from the Heart."
Sounds like a WIN-WIN to me.
YES23 Volunteers needed
Already well over 100 people have volunteered to support the YES campaign in the Wollongong LGA. We need hundreds more between now and the vote. You can do as much or as little as you like.
The best way to register is via the Yes23 website.
What’s on?
Mark these in your diary:
- Tuesday, 11 July from 6-7pm. Understanding the Voice with Dr Summer May Finlay. Venue: 6-8 Regent Street, Wollongong
- Sunday, 6 August from 9am, Swim Out or Sit In for the Voice. Venue: North Wollongong Beach
About the writer
Jeremy Lasek has many decades of experience in media, marketing, events and PR. His career began in the Illawarra with the Lake Times, ABC Radio and WIN-TV. For eight years Jeremy was news director for WIN in Canberra and was national news director before joining the National Capital Authority as head of media and events. Jeremy was executive director of ACT Government Communications, Events, Arts, Heritage and Protocol for many years, was Chief of Staff to the ACT Chief Minister and had responsibility for the Centenary of Canberra celebrations in 2013. Before returning to Wollongong, Jeremy was CEO of the National Australia Day Council (including the Australian of the Year Awards) and head of communications for the Australian Federal Police. He’s currently volunteering on the YES23 campaign.