Allies for Uluru Media Release
On 14 October 2023, more than six million Australians said ‘Yes’ to walking together with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples for a better future.
In the wake of the referendum, the Allies for Uluru continue to stand in solidarity with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. As a coalition of civil society organisations, corporations and community groups, we are committed to demonstrating our full and unwavering support for the core principles of the Uluru Statement from the Heart. That is…
- We recommit to actively pursuing the establishment of representative voices for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples;
- We recommit to supporting sovereign to sovereign agreement-making and treaty negotiations between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and Australian governments; and
- We recommit to actively pursuing a national truth-telling process, as a vehicle for healing.
We will not be fair-weather allies, we will not turn back, and we will not hesitate in continuing to fight for justice and self-determination for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. In line with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), self-determination is the right of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples to be in control of decision-making that affects their lives. We recognise that this self-determination must be catalysed by the transfer of funding and decision making to Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations. As Allies, we will also seek to embody Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representative voices in our own structures and programs.
As Allies, we must incubate our hope for a better future, yet more than this, we must join our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in building the future that we desire. We will do this by continuing to advocate for the rights and aspirations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. Where we see pockets of hope or progress – nationally, regionally and locally – we will add our voices to those of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders, organisations and communities.
We call on all Australian governments and opposition parties to work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples to lay the foundation for a more fair and truthful relationship between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and non-Indigenous Australians. We believe that this will deliver a better future for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, one based on justice and self-determination. In turn, we believe that this will deliver a better future for all Australians.
The Allies for Uluru reaffirm that the way forward for our nation lies in accepting the generous invitation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart and actively working together with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples to build our shared vision for a mature, just and equal Australia.
Signed,
The Fred Hollows Foundation
ANTAR
Oxfam Australia
Australian Council of Social Services
Settlement Services International
Perinatal Wellbeing Centre
Services for Australian Rural and Remote Allied Health
University of Divinity
Sydney Peace Foundation
Health Voyage Ltd
HIPA International Pty Ltd
Koala Action Inc.
UnitingCare Australia
Australian Conservation Foundation
Public Interest Advocacy Centre
Australian Lawyers Alliance
Uniting Church in Australia Assembly
Uniting Church in Australia – Synod of Victoria and Tasmania
Shoalhaven Alliance for Yes23
SEARCH Foundation
Health Justice Australia
Beyond Blue
ANTaR ACT
Public Health Association of Australia
Mental Health Australia
Sacred Heart Mission
Reconciliation NSW
IWDA
Palliative Care Australia
Cerebral Palsy Alliance
The Wilderness Society
Edmund Rice Centre for Justice
Dataspace Insight Pty Ltd
The Victorian Mental Illness Awareness Council
Greenpeace Australia Pacific
Speaking Up For You
ANTaR Queensland
West Australian Council of Social Service
Catholic Social Services Australia
Infoxchange
WWF-Australia
Save the Children Australia/54 reasons
Voice from the Heart Alliance
Women’s Reconciliation Network
Wynnum Manly Yes Group
Office for Justice, Ecology and Peace
Cohealth
Consumers of Mental Health WA
One World Centre
Tearfund
Australian Democracy Network
Aboriginal Education Coordinator – NSW Teachers Federation
Benarrawa Community Development Association
SGS Economics and Planning
Indigenous Eye Health Unit, The University of Melbourne
Mission Australia
ANTaR Victoria
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I’m with you guys.
Almost every decision in the NT would have been better with a voice yet price is believed a guru.
Well … – all of this – Treaty, and Sovereignty, and Truth Telling and Makarrata (Makarrata is a word in the Yolngu language meaning a coming together after a struggle, facing the facts of wrongs and living again in peace. from some NT Govt. website) – sounds all very nice and noble and high-minded, and I support it, truly I do …
But I’m not sure that people are really clear about what a huge and consequential project this really is. If we are really serious about this, it will be a long drawn out process, possibly going across two or three generations, and which, if done correctly, should be expected to change Australia and Australian society almost beyond recognition.
That there are many people – a slight majority of all Australians, as it turned out – who are apprehensive about embarking on such a project, is to be expected, and is a problem which should itself be approached with more of a conciliatory and reassuring attitude rather than the self-righteous condemnatory contempt exhibited by many of the more strident advocates for the Uluru statement.
I’m with you in principle. And remain very cautious as to the legal machinations that abound. The outcome of the ‘Voice’ referendum was a great disappointment, but inevitable given the horrendous ‘No’ campaign ‘Trumpist’ clap trap unloaded on the populace by Dutton, the LNP et al (and their financial backers) and the feckless flunky mainstream media.
I am quite sure there will be many who voted ‘No’, that have since pondered, “What have we done?”
Great respect for the ongoing resolve of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders pursuing through equity and ethics better outcomes, that will enhance the culture of the whole of Australia.
Like Arnd and Clakka I believe in levelling the playing field for Aboriginal people and I voted YES in the Referendum.
Since then I have spoken with people with first nations heritage who have told me that, fundamentally they don’t really want to be treated differently to other Australians and they certainly don’t want to be segregated or divided from the Australian community on racial or ethnic lines.
I am also mindful of the South Australia experience where, after the national referendum, they sought to have a vote for the South Australian First Nations Voice to Parliament but less than 10 per cent of eligible voters cast their ballot – 8.73% to be accurate : Indigenous and Torres Strait Islanders were asked to elect the 46 members of the state’s Voice to Parliament in March. Only 2619 votes were counted across the state which is home to approximately 30,000 eligible voters according to the Electoral Commission of South Australia.
Perhaps we need to be speaking to indigenous Australians who it seems to me don’t want to be singled out or treated differently from other Australians but they do want better healthcare services, better access to education and housing and real job opportunities.
And, let’s not forget that the coalition and Dutton consider the failure of the Voice referendum to be their greatest achievement in opposition.
Terence:
What’s worse: IT WAS!!
(I’m using the term “achievement” somewhat loosely!)
Terence Mills,
You ask whether Aboriginal people do not want to be singled out or treated differently. Not surprising,given that two thirds of the voters voted NO against them. How do they feel?
And you say Dutton regards his “success” as his greatest. He sees it as being against Albanese, but it is against the Aboriginal Uluru Statement From the Heart. which made the invitation.
Dutton’s NO in the Referendum Booklet was a heap of nonsense.
What did Chris Kenny say (5/8/2023) about attacks on the Voice before the Referendum Day?
He said: “Attacks on the Indigenous voice to Parliament are an ugly attempt to wound Anthony Albanese. ..It is ugly. It is cyniical.”
He goes on to say: “The Coalition is undermined by its own commitment to legislate the voice.” That is, the Coalition wants to defeat Albanese so they can legislate the voice themselves.
And more: “…under Morrison they compiled a 275-page report on extensive national consultation, about what the legislative voice would look like (I was in that process), They know more than they pretend.”
Has anyone seen those 275 pages?