Albo’s May Day call: from little things big things grow
Rudi Maxwell |
Anthony Albanese has hit the streets for a May Day march in Brisbane, calling on the history of the union movement’s support for Indigenous rights to draw parallels with a First Nations voice.
“It was the trade union movement that backed up Vincent Lingiari when he walked off, along with his people, off Wave Hill,” the prime minister said.
“It is the trade union movement that has stood up for justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.
“And I’m very confident the trade union movement will be part of a successful campaign to achieve constitutional recognition this year.”
One of Mr Albanese’s predecessor’s Tony Abbott was back in Canberra addressing the parliamentary inquiry into the voice, as were prominent ‘yes’ campaigner Noel Pearson and ‘no’ campaigner Nyunggai Warren Mundine.
Mr Pearson told the inquiry he was excited about the referendum.
“I think children of the future will look back on these words and really be proud of the constitution,” he said.
“I think this is a good provision.
“It has a real sense of history, it honours Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
“It’s a safe provision that meets the needs of Australia and meets the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.”
Mr Pearson said the path to the upcoming referendum had begun under prime minister John Howard in 2007 and been progressing since.
Mr Abbott and the former head of his prime ministerial Indigenous Advisory Council Mr Mundine gave the inquiry their reasons against the proposal.
“This voice is wrong in principle and I think it’s potentially quite dangerous in practice,” Mr Abbott said.
“I think this process has been done badly from the beginning. I think this particular proposal should be pulled and I think we should start again in a less partisan way.”
Mr Abbott – who famously called himself the ‘Prime Minister for Indigenous Affairs’ then cut billions from Indigenous programs after modelling policy on a report written by billionaire miner Andrew Forrest – said, if it were up to him, he would propose constitutional recognition in the preamble.
He said he didn’t believe a voice would help solve issues in Indigenous communities.
“The kids have got to go to school, adults have got to go to work and the police have got to keep communities safe,” Mr Abbott said.
Mr Mundine told the inquiry he didn’t think the voice was needed but if the referendum was successful he would do his best to work with it.
Mr Pearson said including a First Nations voice in the constitution would add 65,000 years worth of knowledge to the 250 years of Australia.
“A very simple but profound proposal is now being put to the Australian people,” he said.
“I think that if fear mongering about it resulted in a ‘no’ vote it’d be a complete tragedy for the country.
“This is a good thing to do for our country.
“This is a good thing to do for our grandchildren.
“I think the country is going to change the minute we vote on this and it’s going to change for the better.”
The inquiry has been holding hearings into the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice referendum legislation.
The committee is due to hand down its report on May 15.
Mr Albanese pledged to move forward with the voice in his election night victory speech and has announced plans for a referendum in the final three months of the year.
AAP
