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Despite the protests of some, the recent referendum result was a resounding affirmation of one of the defining positive characteristics of Australian society – that we are one. Legally, constitutionally, in symbolism and in spirit.
It reaffirmed our belief that one group or race does not have rights others do not share. It reaffirmed our belief that the elites in the halls of power do not speak for the majority in our suburbs and the regions. And it showed the reality that past problems are not redressed with future divisions.
The messages run during the campaign exposed that difference in approach starkly.
On one side was a Yes campaign that emphasised a negative view of Australia’s history and sought to separate us permanently by racial identity.
It was a campaign run by well-funded inner-city activists and by big corporations and unions based on grievance and proposed ideological solutions that sought to change Australia’s most fundamental political structures.
It wanted to entrench a structure that would centralise power in a single body that would purportedly speak for nearly a million Australians. This was a top-down view of the world that suggested a group of elites based in Canberra always knows best.
The Yes path was leading to an acceptance that Australia would forever be burdened by its history. It would, as a result, separate Australians into two groups: those descended by Indigenous heritage and those who have come from all the countries on earth since 1788. A path that sought to formalise racial segregation as a step towards a treaty and an ongoing process of grievance through ‘truth’ or ‘Makarrata’.
Conversely, the No campaign presented a view of Australia that emphasised political equality regardless of descent. It was a grassroots campaign fronted by people who had lived experience away from the inner city.
The No campaign made the case that, while acknowledging our history and learning from it, what happens now and into the future matters more than picking over our history and blaming our children for events that occurred centuries before they were born. It was a vote for a forward-looking Australia, including the responsibility to continue to deal with disadvantage, and to close the gap wherever it is found.
It emphasised practical solutions to challenges and rejected the notion that a top-down single Voice can replace the many voices that speak for the very disparate and different Indigenous communities that exist across Australia.
The No path was one where we accepted that we are all Australians regardless of our heritage. It argued that there should be no ‘us and them’.
The very strong No vote at the referendum was a clear rejection of the toxic ‘identity politics’ that has infected Western societies of late. It was a statement that Australia must move forward as one people united by citizenship and not separated by our historical ascendants.
The schism between the inner-city elites and the rest of Australia becomes even more stark when you consider that a record number of approximately 2.6 million Australians decided not to even participate in the referendum and would rather pay a fine than engage in this divisive process.
That is not to say that there isn’t more work to be done. There is. But that must be done as one nation, as one people.
In fact, the result paves the way for a new approach to Indigenous affairs in Australia. Where bottom-up local engagement is preferred over a centralised top-down Voice. Where we listen to those from the communities, not those from the cities. Rather than a focus on symbolic changes that aim to gift power and money to selected individuals, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has turned the focus on practical ways to uplift Indigenous disadvantage where it counts.
A Royal Commission into child sexual abuse and an audit of land councils is a starting point.
Warren Mundine has advocated for greater economic participation as the pathway out of disadvantage, through jobs, education, social stability, and practical initiatives.
It is now incumbent on politicians at all levels of government to heed the voices of the majority of Australians who have expressed very clearly at the ballot box the vision of Australia that they want.
The real lesson from this is, while accepting the challenges we still need to face, we will face them as one nation with a constitution that applies to all Australians, equally.
Copyright © 2023 Jeremy Hanson - All Rights Reserved.
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