Facts force me to vote ‘NO’.
A constitution must be non-racial, non-sectarian and fair.
We have migrants from 238 different countries who made Australia the great country it is today, we do not recognize race in our constitution — we recognise Australian people equally.
No one or group must ever have greater rights or representation above others.
There are 11 Aboriginal MP’ in federal parliament and others in state Parliaments, there were 3,273 registered Aboriginal Corporations, making representations to governments delivering health and other services.
The National Indigenous Australian Agency has 1,317 employees costing close to 4.5 billion dollars. this year.
They are the commonwealth body responsible for policy development, implementation and service delivery for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples — They are their VOICE.
Aborigines in NSW, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania could vote in colonial elections before 1901 and, by virtue of Section 41 of the Constitution, they could vote in Commonwealth elections.
The have a Voice to parliament like everyone else.
Over $34 billion a year goes to Indigenous people and communities; aboriginal organizations receive hundreds of millions of dollars from mining royalties every year.
More than 230 million dollars in the NT alone.
Taxpayers now provide $39 billion dollars a year on Aboriginal needs for 3.2 % of the population, more than is spent on Medicare.
Their societal problems are self-generated, they refuse to ban alcohol and force parents to send children to school under threat of punishment, and disrespect the law.
Every ‘Yes’ voter I speak to has not read nor not understood the Uluru Statement: It is not referendum worthy; it is a struggling community coming to terms with their dismal internal failures, a starting point to restructure their own goals and objectives that must eventuate first and foremost before they can move forward.
They have many words in law that if followed would have alleviated their problems — but they are ignored.
New words in a constitution are of no value, it’s not new words, but a change of attitude and respect for law that is needed to solve their shocking crime riddled society and bad attitude to each other.
Sincerely
Gil May
Forestdale
