For context: https://voice.gov.au/
Basically, there is a proposal to get the Voice (representing the needs of indigenous communities in Australia) enshrined into Australia's Constitution. And because this means a change to the Constitution itself, a referendum from the Australian population will be required. If the majority of Australian vote yes to this proposal, and the majority of states vote yes, then it's a pass. Unfortunately for the Yes side, and with voting day coming very soon, polls show that it's doomed to fail.
That said, I'm going to be voting "Yes", albeit after quite a long time of thinking this through. I certainly don't believe the Voice is going to cause division (if anything, the division is already there anyway), and I do believe the First Peoples of Australia are entitled to some form of genuine recognition that won't just suddenly be dismissed the minute the government decides they could care less about that (which history has shown to have happened a few times before). And it's just an advisory board, nothing more. But I feel the Yes campaign has been terrible at effectively delivering the message to the Australian people and answering whatever concerns they may have. Yes, some people have strong prejudices against what is being perceived as granting special status to Indigenous people and have already made up their minds that they'll be voting "No" (not to mention falling prey easily to misinformation and fearmongering tactics from the No campaign), but there are plenty of those who are just confused about the whole thing and don't know what they're voting on exactly.
The booklets that were mailed to all voters a while ago, presenting both sides of the argument, certainly didn't help, with the No side clearly presenting a more [superficially] compelling case in the booklet than the Yes side. I had to watch a lot of videos and read a lot of stuff to finally be convinced that, yes, this is at least a fair way to go.
Who here is an Australian, and what will your vote be? To the rest, feel free to share thoughts or questions. Maybe I might be able to address some of them.
Basically, there is a proposal to get the Voice (representing the needs of indigenous communities in Australia) enshrined into Australia's Constitution. And because this means a change to the Constitution itself, a referendum from the Australian population will be required. If the majority of Australian vote yes to this proposal, and the majority of states vote yes, then it's a pass. Unfortunately for the Yes side, and with voting day coming very soon, polls show that it's doomed to fail.
That said, I'm going to be voting "Yes", albeit after quite a long time of thinking this through. I certainly don't believe the Voice is going to cause division (if anything, the division is already there anyway), and I do believe the First Peoples of Australia are entitled to some form of genuine recognition that won't just suddenly be dismissed the minute the government decides they could care less about that (which history has shown to have happened a few times before). And it's just an advisory board, nothing more. But I feel the Yes campaign has been terrible at effectively delivering the message to the Australian people and answering whatever concerns they may have. Yes, some people have strong prejudices against what is being perceived as granting special status to Indigenous people and have already made up their minds that they'll be voting "No" (not to mention falling prey easily to misinformation and fearmongering tactics from the No campaign), but there are plenty of those who are just confused about the whole thing and don't know what they're voting on exactly.
The booklets that were mailed to all voters a while ago, presenting both sides of the argument, certainly didn't help, with the No side clearly presenting a more [superficially] compelling case in the booklet than the Yes side. I had to watch a lot of videos and read a lot of stuff to finally be convinced that, yes, this is at least a fair way to go.
Who here is an Australian, and what will your vote be? To the rest, feel free to share thoughts or questions. Maybe I might be able to address some of them.
