We are settlers of colour; but are we ready to listen to their Voice?

On Saturday 14 October 2023, Australians will decide whether to vote Yes to recognise First Nations people in our nation’s founding document and allow them to have a say on policies and laws that impact their lives.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited Lakemba mosque on Friday 6 October, stating “I am deeply moved by just how strongly the Muslim community of Australia has got behind (the Voice)”. Echoing his Yes Vote campaign, the Australian National Imams Council produced a statement requesting all imams to dedicate their khutbah or Friday sermon, to back the Indigenous voice to Parliament.

As Australian Muslims, we too are settlers on this land. We have as Poet Isobel McKellar said loved this “sunburnt country”. Representing diverse multicultural communities, many of us, Muslims and Palestinians in particular understand the trauma of being colonised and can empathise with Indigenous Australians on the crippling impact of dispossession. Embedding a Voice is not a perfect solution. But it is a hopeful path towards a more equitable and benevolent society.

So what is the Voice?

The Voice will be a permanent advisory body to the Government on issues that affect First Nations people. It was developed following a rigorous consultation process with Indigenous decision-makers who helped create the 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart on how their communities should best be heard.

There have been seven processes and ten reports on Constitutional recognition to get here; with 83% of First Nations people supporting a Voice. Like most diverse communities, this does not mean everyone agrees. But overwhelmingly most do.

 

Treaty and Truth

When it comes to a Treaty with our Indigenous people and Constitutional recognition, Australia is an outlier. Indeed, as ABC confirmed Minister of Indigenous Affairs Linda Burney claimed: “The Australian constitution is the only constitution of a first world nation with a colonial history that does not recognise its first people.”

The Prime Minister has committed to the Uluru Statement “in full”. This means there is more to come — voice, treaty and truth. Following the referendum if the Voice to Parliament is enshrined in the Constitution, attention will shift towards a ‘Makarrata commission’ which will help to oversee both processes of treaty-making and truth-telling.

When this land was colonised a Treaty was never considered. The British did not engage in Treaty talks with the owners of this land. Instead, they claimed the land was “Terra nullius” (or belonged to no one) and took it for themselves.

Noting that past injustice cannot be corrected, the Voice is crucial because a representative body is needed for negotiation. Treaty-making is technical and legally complex as it must take into account pre-existing Australian laws. Already Victoria and the Northern Territories have been leading the way to form a Treaty with their First Nations communities.

 

If we vote, Yes

The Government has stated its intent that the Voice will be an independent body, selected by First Nations people and reflect the diversity of its communities (e.g. gender-balanced and having youth representation). If enacted in the Constitution, there will be a further consultation process and the Government has stated there will be no government appointments to this body.

Similar to the 1967 referendum,  where 90.77% of Australians endorsed the constitutional amendments that gave voting rights to First Nations people, this too is an opportunity for Australians to make history together. A Yes vote will recognise 65,000 years of indigenous connection to this land, establishing a practical path to better outcomes for First Nations people and a brighter future for all of us.

Impact on First Nations people

As Australian lawyer Noel Pearson’s speech at the National Press Gallery on the 27 September expounded “We are 3 per cent and you 97 per cent, it’s understandable we (Australians) mostly don’t know each other as friends.” Voting Yes might bridge the gap to better understanding one another.

Many survivors of the Stolen Generation require healing from the effects of intergenerational trauma. According to reports, there are more than 17,000 surviving Indigenous Australians who were removed from their families.

Living in this distress leads to a range of negative outcomes for themselves and their children. As exemplified by the Australian Law Reform Commission report though Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders represent around 2 per cent of the national population, they constitute 27 per cent of the national prison population.

How this referendum plays out for us as a nation will require empathy and compassion, particularly for safeguarding Indigenous mental health. An example of this was when Indigenous presenter Stan Grant chose to walk away from the high-profile role on ABC’s Q+A after receiving “grotesque racist abuse”.

He stated in the ‘The Queen is Dead‘, “A Voice to Parliament embedded in the Constitution can never amount to justice…It will always be less than we deserve… So why a Voice? If the Voice means that our people can live longer, healthier: if it means our children have a chance to walk in this world as who they are, then it is critical.”

Facing this nation’s past mistakes is confronting. Apologies alone cannot overturn injustice. But Australians need to be ready and willing to deal with the unfinished business of colonisation and its consequences.

As Muslims, we value justice and equality. We also have a shared history with Indigenous people. In the nineteenth century, Afghan cameleers helped with goods transportation and settled in the outback with Indigenous people. So, why wouldn’t we support our fellow Indigenous brothers and sisters during this critical time? Australia is at the precipice of an internal battle for the soul of this country — between love and hate. Who are we? We decide.

To Fact-Check any disinformation, please visit ABC fact check.

For free, confidential and culturally safe First Nations 24-hour crisis support, please call 13YARN (or 13 92 76).