Australian Political Leaders Have A Pretty Poor Track Record
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First up I want to say that I am a big fan of Anthony Albanese and support his having a go at getting the Voice referendum over the line. It was brave and hopefully not stupid. Australian political leaders have a pretty poor track record when it comes to doing anything about Aboriginal recognition, reconciliation, and treaty. Bob Hawke squibbed it. Peter Dutton’s decision to oppose the Voice and turn it into a political battle destroyed any hope we had to constitutionally recognise First Nations people in Australia. Non-partisan politics does not exist in this nation when it comes to Indigenous Affairs.
Voice Referendum Failure A National Day Of Shame
In hindsight, I think it may have been better to do what Bill Shorten had in mind when he was leader of the opposition. That is to establish a Voice via legislation upon winning the election and then doing the constitutional referendum thing once it had been up and running for a couple of years. This would have removed some of the scare campaign fodder around lack of detail etc. Asking Australians to vote on something they didn’t understand or bother to comprehend was not a good idea in retrospect. I can understand the national feel good possibility of the country had it got behind the Voice, but it hasn’t turned out that way.
Quite the reverse, it is a national day of shame, in my view.
“Australia overwhelmingly voted against enshrining an Indigenous voice to parliament to advise policy and lawmakers on issues affecting First Nations people. Just 40% of Australians voted in favour. The ACT was the sole jurisdiction to vote yes.
The outcome is very different from that of the first nationwide vote about her people in 1967, Hogarth said.”
Aussies willing to give black fellas the vote but not a voice at the big table where the decisions are made. This is a persistent theme in how the conservative forces still view Aboriginal people, as less than and not up to self-determination. White Australia wants to hang onto the whip handle when it comes to controlling the fate of Indigenous people and the purse strings.
Racism remains a constant down under, when push comes to shove.
Politicians In Australia Stick Close To Hip Pocket Concerns
Perhaps it was a mistake to wilfully ignore the current cost of living crisis. This economic imperative combined with the nascent racism of Australians has probably made white Australia more susceptible to the negative No campaign. The suburban masses were very ready to embrace any reason not to vote for the Voice. Downward envy turned First Nations people into a target to blame for the white community’s fears and frustrations around the cost of living crisis. I still don’t think that the political classes in Australia truly realise the depths of feeling around the housing crisis.
Apparently, the majority of MPs are property owners and landlords – giving them a very different perspective on the current economic crisis.
Australian Racism Now Out In The Open
The authentic thing to come out of this is that we have seen the underbelly of white Australia and the conservative forces. The Australian public know what Peter Dutton is really about. He will say and do anything to score political victories, as he doesn’t care about Indigenous Australia. The Coalition via Tony Abbott did the same thing re-climate change and put the nation back decades in dealing with this existential crisis. Simon Fenwick who funded the No campaign is a staunch climate change denier and a Trumpian type backroom political operative.
Australia be warned the fascists are in the house and throwing their weight around. Whitestone Strategic – the name says it all really. Dirty politics and social media manipulation via bots are on the cards down under.
Robert Sudha Hamilton is the author of Money Matters: Navigating Credit, Debt, and Financial Freedom.
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