By Callen Sorensen Karklis
In the aftermath of the 2023 Referendum where 60% of Australians voted a resounding No to a First Nations voice advisory committee to Parliament, we must now look at a way forward for First Nations people and non-indigenous peoples alike, particularly by closing the gap in life expectancy and living standards.
It’s clear that while 40% of us voted for the Voice we must accept the referendum’s fate much the same that most pro referendum activist in all of federation. Of all referendum’s only 8 out of 45 since 1901 have passed. It is obvious that misinformation campaigns are becoming the norm in today’s day and age given the 2016 US Presidential election and Brexit referendum. Democracy is going through a crisis point in the backdrop of less people in support of government institutions as well as free speech and the media.
In the thick of this revelation, we must challenge the reality that populist politics resurging its ugly head among the backdrop of totalitarian regimes disrupting the legitimacy liberal post war order. We cannot allow the populist who wish to see the mistakes of the past resurge as a way forward.
Considering that Australia was one of the only developed western nations in the world to not have a treaty with its First Nations peoples, every state and territory government are looking to implement a treaty. But considering the political cowardice of the LNP and its leaders on both the issue of the Voice and now backing out of the Pathway to Treaty in Qld off the back of the Voice vote being almost 80% No in QLD.
We are heading into what was 32 years of reconciliation in the form of native title, apologies and closing gap reports from 1991 – 2023 into a period of Australia potentially walking away from reconciliation with its First Nations peoples. This period may just as well be what the 1980s was to the LGBTIQ community during the onslaught of AIDs crisis amongst the backdrop of high discrimination. Every minority group knows how hard it is to not only fight for your rights but also to maintain them especially so now in the post-truth period of madmen. These madmen especially don’t want diversity or equality for all because they want to create the illusion of helping those going through economic and social hardship and weaponizing differences to gain and maintain power. This was the Big Lie strategy that Joseph Goebbels in Nazi Germany used for the Third Reich for Hitler.
Treaty and Affirmative Action
Considering the setback on Treaty in Queensland it’s clear that we must explore the alternatives to the Voice and find a way forward. If Treaty is to fail in Qld in 2024 if the QLD LNP wins the next state election and David Crisafulli is to become the next QLD Premier. Both the QLD Labor Party and QLD Greens should do the morally right and honourable thing and support a Treaty regardless. If the LNP want to play the bloodhounds of racist dog whistles, then let history be the judge of their actions and behaviour of gaslighting and opening up pandoras box.
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“My message to the QLD Labor Palaszczuk Government hold firm and go away with Treaty even without the support of the LNP Opposition!”
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I’m not going to lie but healing the wounds of October 2023 is going to take considerable time and strategizing and a consolidated effort of resources to heal the divide the damage the aftermath of the Voice Referendum has done for First Nations peoples. They say time heals all wounds but for First Nations peoples it has taken 235 years of policy failures just to reveal how deep these wounds go.
Qld will be the only state and territory that doesn’t go ahead with a treaty in all of Australia doing the pro-Apartheid legacy of police state Joh Bjelke Petersen proud. If Labor wants to stay in power in 2024 and beyond until 2028 the Qld Greens must make it an election issue to ensure Qld Labor should go ahead with it as a sticking point. The Qld Greens must make it non–negotiable if Labor enters hung parliament and minority government. The Greens have the chance to win another 5 state seats in McConnel, Cooper, Greenslopes, Miller, and Bulimba. If the Greens could hold additional seats to the 2, they already hold if the swing towards the LNP isn’t enough anything is possible. But if the LNP win power regardless in a firm majority then Labor should find its backbone and campaign on Treaty regardless. The same should be the same in all other state or territory or else it runs the risk of Australia to be the pariah of the western world when it comes to its First Nations peoples. But then again Anthony Albanese as Prime Minister could also action legislation to enact a federal Treaty too. Just as Bob Hawke proposed in 1988, it wouldn’t just be a song or vision it could be a reality.
Another way forward would be the introduction of more affirmative action policies and avenues for First Nations peoples to enter the fray of all political parties. It is evident that all parties have a long way to go to make this happen considering the large number of reasons why the gap is still considerable. Giving more First Nations peoples government roles with actual weight is another. Until we see a First Nations Premier and Prime Minister or senior minister in either state and federal parliament making decisions for both First Nations and non–Indigenous Australians and more of it the more likely will it be that a bridge in mistrust may cease. But that said, the political parties of either side be it left, right, or centre must come together to introduce AA or else reconciliation will become the same quagmire as the troubles in Northern Ireland or Palestine. This may be a pessimistic outlook but more importantly it’s the truth. As Liberal Senator Neville Bonner once said, “I am a token to no person”. But more importantly all parties must accept this advice; they must move away from tokenism to sweeping problems under a rug without solving issues. They must make deliverable outcomes with real solutions. Will we see a First Nation’s Prime Minister or state Premier? Who knows Will Australia change the date of its national holiday on the 26th? Only by working together we can write our story.
Why the Voice Failed
Despite the good intentions behind the Voice campaign, it failed for several reasons but most importantly – even as somebody who was in support of the Voice – it was a badly run campaign. The detail wasn’t explained as well as it should have been. But the advertising for it just wasn’t appealing to voters who understood the potential importance this move could signify for First Nations peoples and bridging a divide to write their own destiny alongside everyday Australians. But people don’t like being confronted with issues or problems. People don’t like taking responsibility for their ancestors settling a land that wasn’t originally their own.
Reasons it failed:
- Infighting among mob; Senator Lidia Thorpe (formerly of the Greens) and the black sovereign movement had their reasons for going against the referendum as they didn’t want to accept any part in the constitution whatsoever. Then you had Senator Jacinta Price (LNP) (former Deputy Mayor of Alice Springs) going against the referendum with the likes of Peter Dutton (Opposition Leader) just to be counterproductive to win support from spreading fear.
- Racism and Fear: discrimination and bigotry reared its ugly head when LNP MPs and Local Council Mayors spread fear by accusing the YES campaign of making the Voice a landgrab for native title claims falsely on parks, cemeteries, backyards, ovals, sports clubs, and public spaces of any description. It was this fear that that spread like wildfire into every home and to every corner. As FDR once said, “Fear of fear itself”. Weaponizing fear was what led to the worst atrocities in human history.
- It’s the Economy, Stupid! It was unwise for Albo to go ahead with the referendum during an international and domestic economic crisis. Especially as most working-class people going through hardship with ever increasing rate rises from the RBA, during a rental crisis, housing crisis due to shortages, and overdevelopment, many of these people aren’t interested in social issues when their struggling to put food on the table, paying rent, or paying off a mortgage.
- Lack of education: Perhaps a long education campaign better educating the gaps in living standards between non-Indigenous and Indigenous Australians could have been beneficial to the YES campaign. Without this non-Indigenous people didn’t have enough to go on without a google search but most people on campaigns need reminding no matter the campaign.
- Misinformation: The big reason any election campaign either fails or succeeds these days is by misinforming the public or lack to combat it via social media platforms, and media spin via television or radio by use of propaganda. It’s clear that the AEC is unable at present to combat misinformation during elections. This is why legislation is needed to ensure social media and any other campaign material that is untrue is put under the scope to avoid people being misled thinking it as truth when it is otherwise.
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Callen Sorensen Karklis, Bachelor of Government and International Relations.
Callen is a Quandamooka Nunukul Aboriginal person from North Stradbroke Island. He has been the Secretary of the Qld Fabians in 2018, and the Assistant Secretary 2018 – 2019, 2016, and was more recently the Policy and Publications Officer 2020 – 2021. Callen previously was in Labor branch executives in the Oodgeroo (Cleveland areas), SEC and the Bowman FEC. He has also worked for Cr Peter Cumming, worked in market research, trade unions, media advertising, and worked in retail. He also ran for Redland City Council in 2020 on protecting the Toondah Ramsar wetlands. Callen is active in Redlands 2030, the Redlands Museum, and his local sports club at Victoria Pt Sharks Club. Callen also has a Diploma of Business and attained his tertiary education from Griffith University. He was a co-host from time to time on Workers Power 4ZZZ (FM 102.1) on Tuesday morning’s program Workers Power. He has also worked in government.
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Well said, Callen.
I agree, in part, with your analysis, Callen.
Certainly the lack of detailed information on the Voice did put some people off particularly as the supposed source of information on the operations of the Voice were said to be contained in documents such as the Calma/Langton Report even though it was not endorsed by the federal government.
The fact that the No campaign recruited Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and Nyunggai Warren Mundine as their spokespersons, supposedly speaking on behalf the Aboriginal peoples, quite clearly influenced many in the community to say, if these indigenous ‘Leaders’ oppose the Voice then they would vote No – whilst the point has been repeatedly made by Yes proponents that Price and Mundine did not represent Aboriginal people, you will appreciate the confusion that this situation created in the minds of many Australians.
As regards Treaty there are very specific criteria to make for validity :
First, there must be two distinct groups of people ; it is not normal for one nation to have a treaty with itself – so we have to split the nation into two or more distinct groups so that they can negotiate with one another – is this potentially divisive or indeed desirable ?
Second, a treaty is an agreement between two parties reached by a fair process of negotiation between equals. Those calling for national or even state based treaties are destined to failure as we already know that indigenous people do not and should not be expected to speak with one voice ; so who to negotiate with ?
Third, if you ask governments to negotiate and draft the treaty (or treaties) you have to first identify the parties to that treaty (or treaties) and confirm that they speak as a unified body and that there is political bipartisanship – as you have noted, the Queensland LNP have already backed away from treaty, a concept that they had previously embraced. Can you rely on Peter Dutton to give in principle support for a treaty (or treaties) ?
Perhaps, as a national commitment we should first concentrate our efforts and resources on the practical issues of Healthcare, Education, Housing and Employment.
Terry, in regards to FN healthcare, education, housing and employment… state a federal governments need to take on a greater role.
Great strides in a few of these was being made by ATSIC (where I was both a project and a policy officer) but Howard destroyed everything. That was 2005. Nothing has happened since.
Efforts to incorporate FN needs into the mainstream have failed.
Thank you Callen for your eloquent statement.
Perhaps there might be another, or additional way forward:
[ https://theconversation.com/indigenous-voices-can-be-heard-without-being-constitutionally-enshrined-just-look-at-the-us-215810/ ]
Thanks for the article, Callen,
I have read so many now. Thomas Mayo’s there’s an opportunity, we have the support of 5.7 million voters. Marcia Langton’s reconciliation is dead. And etc, and so on and so forth.
To say the least it was complex before, with decades of activism and political argy-bargy, and more consultations and reports and schemes than one could poke a stick at. The notion of bipartisanship has waned and fluxed, apparently to the convenience of retail politics. At the time, The Statement from the Heart, and the consultations before and behind it was brilliant and inspired – a tribute to the intellect and ingenuity of the FNP. The follow-up Calma Langton Co-design report was remarkable, if not exhaustive and intense. And I well recall Marcia commenting that it had been extraordinarily difficult, not only technically, but also in consultation to come to a reasonable consensus.
And what for? For the prevailing LNP to render it to a shelf for the sake of retail politics.
Even though, understandably, Wyatt quit the parliament and the party, the LNP didn’t care, but kept mouthing bipartisanship right up to the 2022 election. Then came Albo, and his commitment. And Dutton and the Aston bye-election trouncing, and any of his covers came off the foundational dirt.
But that’s all history now. And the RW m.o. has completely degraded itself to the imported ‘cultur war’ filth. And to think that is going to go away might be at tad naive. The hounds of that m.o. are now actively going around the country at grass roots level poisoning the water. I have regrettably experienced that first hand – it is pure filth. In Vic they are actively pursuing petitioning of the Vic parliament to have the RASAs torn up and the Treaty process trashed.
I wonder where the proponents and the FNP are going to get the new blood and energy and expertise to come on again. It may be that many of the old guard may not have it in them to go at it again. Whist there are some pretty good frameworks developed, treaties can take many many years. In the meantime, maybe meaningful, with teeth, ‘closing the gap’ legislations might be a harder to resist path for results on the ground – at least in the interim.
As for retail politics it will of course continue to prevail, and in that regard, Albo has to bite down hard, and lift his game, all at a time when there are extraordinarily powerful headwinds.
For me, the complete recasting of the Constitution, the ridding of the Crown, and the filthy trail of imperial / colonial laws favouring aristocrats and manifest of bias, inequity, and race/class prejudice is the aim – A Republic, and with it acknowledgement and redress for FNP. But by then I’ll likely have returned to the earth from whence I came.
Clakka,
It is not just in Vic that Coalition pollies are using the ‘NO!(!!!)’ vote as justification to backtrack on bi-partisan steps towards reconciliation.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-19/david-crisafulli-backflips-on-path-to-treaty-support-queensland/102984166
According to the IPA, Jacinta Price shows promise. 🙄
Terrence, I think the first priority is to address racism in all its forms.
We know that not all no voters were racists, but all racists voted no.
Racism is now running free as demonstrated on social media posts, and the recent article by the head of the Qld police union openly expressing his racism for all to see.
Racism impacts the delivery of health, education, housing, policing, child protection, etc.
It really is time for individuals to take responsibility for their racism and how it affects their work.
Non-Indigneous people need to look at the role racism has in their lives.
Such introspection must form any new form of reconciliation.
A good read, Callen!
Kerri, the clp party has only one certain seat in the NT To give it to an Aboriginal woman means she already has whatever the IPA is talking about.
ps
I love a little loonie laugh.
Lorraine
I’m not sure, from my observations, that racism had much to do with it. There were, of course, silly conspiracies on social media saying all sorts of things that simply don’t make sense but by and large the Australian community saw through those things.
Barry Jones in The Saturday Paper makes some interesting points which I generally agree with :
“The “Yes” case was well intentioned and hardworking, but the “No” case was masterful and far more strategic. Dishonest, too*.
There were six principal reasons why the “No” campaign triumphed. The first was its shameful, morally bankrupt slogan: “If you don’t know, vote ‘No’.” The “No” campaign essentially argued “Why bother? Nothing to do with you. Don’t bother to find out. If you know nothing, welcome aboard the ‘No’ campaign.” Many “No” voters never understood what the referendum was about, and there was no imagination, sympathy or understanding.
The second boon for the “No” campaign was its public faces: Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and Nyunggai Warren Mundine to the right, Lidia Thorpe to the left. They gave a leave pass to the unsure and disengaged, promoting uncertainty and confusion. The argument for these people was: “If the Aboriginal community is divided about the Voice, how can I make a judgement?”
I won’t list them all here but this tends to fit in with my thinking.
corvusboreus,
Thanks for the link. Albeit, I’m across what’s going on in QLD in that regard. Not sure what the ALP / Palaszczuk can or will do about it. Are they keeping their powder dry till after the election? Who knows?
Terrence,
Barry Jones’ article was brilliant (as usual). As well as talking to all of us, seems to be directing at ALP.
Terrence, that is not what I am hearing from many Indigenous colleagues. While your esoteric analysis of the referendum outcome does have merit, yours is not the full story.
As a country, Australia can no longer gloss over racism as a minor issue. Racism should not, can not, be glossed over as something afflicting only a few mainstream non-Indigenous Australians. Racism is deeply enculturated in the colonialist Australian culture. Racism is a central precept of colonisation. Racism is something that new migrants often adopt as they seek to become acculturated into mainstream Australian society.
Stories of highly reputable Aboriginal people being shunned, insulted racially attacked in public on the streets of Darwin.
The very many accounts of Indigenous students being racially bullied, told they were rejected in the referendum and so they should just leave their school, horrendous racist online comments, etc are coming from around the country from many sources.
Sure not all no voters are racists, but the no vote has unleashed unabridged racism.
@ Lorraine October 28, 2023 at 4:48 pm.
“As a country, Australia can no longer gloss over racism as a minor issue.”
Agreed Lorraine, well said and thank you.
The recent “Open Letter” from Indigenous leaders states (in part):
“8. There has always been racism against First Nations people in Australia.”
After a week of silence, the letter was directed to Australian politicians and the public
Earlier this week there began a dribble of quotes from this letter, but nowhere in the MSM was a link published to the actual text – until The Monthly did so and encouraged readers to actually read the letter.
https://ugc.production.linktr.ee/2e09849a-25e6-4743-8317-e33dfb437728_Statement-for-our-People-and-Country.pdf
Clakka,
Unsurprised. It remains there for others to trip over.
As for second-guessing political strategies?
I’m too benthic to think like scum.
JulianP
Correct me if I’m wrong but my understanding was that the “Open Letter” was unsigned and unattributed so responsible media outlets would inevitably treat it with some caution when they don’t know where it came from and the authors remain anonymous.
Quote from an ABC report :
“It is unclear who signed the letter but the ABC understands some Aboriginal leaders had distanced themselves from an earlier draft of the statement, and did not want their names associated with it.”
@Terence Mills October 29, 2023 at 7:40 am
Thank you Terence, you may well be correct. I took my cue from Schwartz Media.
In any event & IMO there appears to be little of the letter’s contents to which one could take violent objection.
In hindsight and having myself voted Yes, I agree with the recent comments of Paul Keating that a political solution was needed, not a legal one (in the sense in which he states that).
I noticed that he referred to the letter during his interview. See:
[ https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/oct/27/paul-keating-says-voice-referendum-was-wrong-fight-and-has-ruined-the-game-for-a-treaty/ ]
All I’m seeing with this is more white people telling Aboriginal and Torres Strait people what is right for them and finding reasons to ignore what they’re trying to tell us.
Pplus ça change …
Terrence, the people and entity that sent the letter was known.
The article below also mentions the explosion of racism as I mentioned.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/oct/29/now-is-the-time-to-act-the-referendum-must-not-lead-to-despair-but-to-a-search-for-new-ways-to-secure-justice?utm_term=653dad673da23db77132da192183f504&utm_campaign=GuardianTodayAUS&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=GTAU_email