FIRE Carriers

For the newsletter this week, I have chosen to write about a topic I keep hearing about on the news. The Indigenous voice to Parliament.

The Indigenous voice to Parliament is part of the reconciliation process that has been running as part of the Uluru statement from the heart for decades. The voice to Parliament would mean that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples would have permanent representation and recognition in the constitution, which is how the laws and policies (the rules Australia abides by) are decided.

To enable this to happen, this requires the majority of Australians to vote yes in the upcoming referendum. Referendums are compulsory, meaning everyone has to vote. There have been 44 referendums in the past, but only 8 have been successful, proving that they often fail. However, if there is a successful yes vote, changes will be made to the constitution. In this case, there will be changes made to the wording of the constitution terminal 2, which means that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples would be given voice to have a say in government policies that relate to them. If the vote is unsuccessful, the constitution will remain unchanged.

Several other countries already have a first nations voice in their parliament. In New Zealand, 7 seats are allocated to the Maori people. Colombia, Norway, Sweden and Finland already have first nations parliaments that are consulted on various issues.

If you were voting, what would you decide? Yes or No?

Alice W

FIRE Carrier