The long-standing Member for Forde Bert van Manen has thrown his support behind the National Party pitch for a No vote.
In every aspect of our lives, we make better decisions when we listen to those closest to the problems we’re looking to solve.
Mr van Manen was part of a government that saw a 0% change in the healthy birthweights of Indigenous babies.
He was part of a government that saw a 0.9% decrease in early development outcomes for Indigenous children.
Mr van Manen states that there is “no detail” attached to the proposal.
I suppose he missed the 270-page Indigenous Voice Co-design Process Final Report that was received by the then Morrison federal government in 2021.
Mr van Manen should listen again to the words of former Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
“An Indigenous voice will contribute to achieving the Closing the Gap outcomes by providing avenues at the national, local and regional levels for Indigenous voices to be heard, including to provide feedback to government on closing the gap.”
– A.M. Holmview
