this post was submitted on 18 Jul 2023
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I'm probably going to regret this but I'm a glutton for punishment so here goes.
At this stage I have some real reservations on the "The Voice" on both practical and philosophical grounds.
In a liberal democracy, in principle everyone should be equal under the law, with no particular group being elevated in terms of representation above beyond anyone else, and certainly not on the basis of race. While it's true government may make policy targeted at different groups, the voice is a bridge too far for me, in essence setting up a third chamber of parliament. And while the Voice cannot block legislation directly I could foresee it doing so indirectly. Depending on the issue this could be bad or a good thing. If one doesn't agree with this and thinks it's powerless, then why bother?
Having the voice as a permanent entity seems to suggest to me that the problems in some sections amongst the aboriginal community basically will continue on forever and hence putting the voice in the constitution, and I find this incredibly racist and insulting. Assuming they implemented the Voice and it did the trick and everything is all good in ten years time, I'm very skeptical a future referendum to disband it would ever fly. Once people get into power they will absolutely hang on to it.
If we setup a voice for this particular minority group, what's next? an LGBTQIA+ voice, or some other minority voice? This could set a very unworkable precedence.
I'm sure this is going to be an unpopular point of view, but at some point people do need to take responsibility for their own choices. Not everything is someone else's fault, and certainly not someone that's been dead for 200 years, or even 50 years. I have more sympathy for kids with fucked up parents (I've been there), and early childhood intervention involving kids from difficult homes needs to be looked at in general regardless of race. But we don't need the voice to point out this really patently obvious fact.
There have been many aboriginal advisory and policy groups in the past that were dismantled due to dysfunction and corruption. To this day there is still a vast bureaucracy dedicated to aboriginal issues. What exactly is happening to all of their advice and their reports and all of their policy work? This doesn't seem to be fixing the problem. And for some reason we are supposed to believe, without any evidence, that another layer of bureaucracy is going to help? Parliament barely functions, let alone another bolted on elected body in the form of a voice. I'm skeptical, and I'd really want to see just a shred of empirical evidence it would make a difference. Let's say for arguments sake it would work. Great. Form the body today through legislation and stop dicking around in the constitution. If it's the best thing since sliced bread then it should meet with little resistance.
This voice just seems like a really ham fisted and convoluted way of trying to implemented aboriginal recognition in the constitution. If that's the real goal, then there's got to be a better way to do it. Some suggest slipping in a bit of text into the constitution saying "Aborigines were here first" or words that effect. To me it seems quite ridiculous since this is history and it seems pointless to restate the historical facts in the constitution. If it makes someone feel better I'm not against it but I'm not sure it would change how people feel in the long run, aboriginals included.
For aboriginals that are looking for real power (i.e. dedicated seats in parliament), this seems like a very watered down version of it. For aboriginals that only want aboriginals in this country and want everyone else to fuck off it's most definitely unsatisfactory. The more I think about it the more I think the "The Voice" is the absolute worst of all worlds.
The way I see it is that we are all here in this country as a result of some type migration, even aboriginals. And each wave of migration has had impacts to the continent, Australian wildlife and it's inhabitants, good and bad. And there is good and bad in all of humanity. The way this debate is going, whoever is on the other side is automatically deemed bad and whoever agrees is good. And perhaps this is the problem with the modern era overall.
No one is being elevated. This myth of "special rights" or "special treatment" has been repeatedly debunked by constitutional law experts.
This is 100% false - the Voice is purely an advisory body. To equate it to the House of Representatives or the Senate is just a flat out lie.
How? It has no power.
Powerless is not the same as unnecessary. The Voice will be able to make more informed recommendations to government than any other advisory body when it comes to matters specific to Indigenous Australians. It is true that a potential lack of willingness from government, particularly conservative government, to actually listen to and work with the Voice is a concern. However there is no guarantee that this will be the case.
The Voice would not exist solely to solve the "problems" you're referring to. Issues relating specifically to Indigenous Australians will continue to exist for as long as they exist. Having an advisory board that can offer better advice than anything that has come before it will always be important. It needs to be permanent so that it cannot be instantly wiped out by a conservative government, as has been emphasised repeatedly for months now.
Again - you completely misunderstand the point of the Voice. It is not a quick bandaid solution for social problems. There is absolutely no intention of abolishing it once it "does the trick". This is why it is in the constitution.
Once again - the Voice doesn't have power.
Come on dude, really? This is textbook slippery slope fallacy. Please be better than this if you are serious about engaging in discussion and debate.
I don't even know where to start with this. You are completely ignorant of history if you think the social problems that exist today are a consequence of people not "taking responsibility for their actions". The dispossession of land, genocide, incarceration, Stolen Generations - all of this is quite literally someone else's fault. White people tried to wipe Indigenous Australians out, failed and have left a mountain of problems behind that cannot be solved solely by the individual choices of the victims.
The Voice will be 100% run by Indigenous Australians. Its advice will therefore be superior to that of any other body. For example, the National Indigenous Australians Agency, which the conservative No campaign is attempting to use as evidence that the Voice is redundant, is only 22% Indigenous.
It needs to be in the constitution so it isn't immediately abolished by a future, most likely conservative, government. You literally just acknowledged yourself that many previous advisory and policy groups have been dismantled by government.
Are you Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander? No? Then no one cares about how you feel. This isn't about you. Not everything is about you.
The Voice is just one aspect of the Uluru Statement from the Heart. The majority of Indigenous Australians support it, but this does not mean that they are opposed to further additions and implementations. The Voice is a start, it is not the be all and end all.
If such people even exist they are an extreme, extreme minority. You are very closeted if you actually believe such a group is large enough to warrant a mention.
Use your brain please. What is the key difference here? One group was here first. Non-Indigenous peoples displaced those who were here first. You are either extremely ignorant of Australia's history, or just downright dishonest if you think we are all the same in this respect.
Welcome to politics. Welcome to our ever polarising society. This is not an excuse for you to play the victim. Your failed arguments and lies do not magically gain more weight because someone hurt your feelings.
Probably more direct than I would have been but good post, glad you've argued with people on the internet so I don't have to.
A mixture of slippery slope, a complete disregard for the weight of history and a lack of understanding of the difference between "law" and "justice" seem to be a recurring set of arguments when it comes to disagreeing with social justice issues.
I figured no one else was going to do it because it was too long. On platforms like reddit and Lemmy you kinda have to shut this stuff down instantly or dumb people start upvoting it. Most are too lazy to actually read stuff properly or fact check it themselves so if they see a comment with a high number of upvotes they just blindly believe it has some value even when it is completely useless dribble like the one above. I also enjoy the bit where these losers rage reply or cry about their hurt feelings after you completely destroy their flimsy little soap box, so that's extra motivation I guess.