Category: Indigenous Voice to Parliament

PM Rules out Taxpayer Funding of Voice Campaigns

The prime minister has shot down calls for taxpayer funds to be used to bankroll “yes” and “no” campaigns for the Indigenous Voice referendum. As Opposition Leader Peter Dutton seeks input into the way the referendum will operate, Anthony Albanese said public funds should be off-limits for the campaigns. “Taxpayers shouldn’t be funding the campaigns…


A Thorpedo Threatens to Derail Labor’s Voice Plans

Commentary Politics is often colourful. Not only do the various political parties have identifying colours—blue, red, green, and yellow—but the political discourse can also provide a kaleidoscope with the language spoken and the positions taken by the various players. And what a position was taken by extreme left-wing activist Senator Lidia Thorpe when she resigned…


South Australia Goes It Alone to Embed Indigenous ‘Voice’ Into Its Parliament

South Australia (SA) will forge ahead with its own Indigenous Voice to Parliament, legislated through the SA Parliament, in a move that will likely add a major layer of red tape to government decision-making. The announcement by the SA Labor Premier Peter Malinauskas comes as his federal counterparts look set to push forward a national…


The Multiple Fallacies Contained Within the Voice to Parliament

Commentary Australia is beginning to tear itself apart at the behest of the clumsy and ham-fisted approach of the government and its determination to shoehorn the Indigenous Voice to Parliament (the Voice) into the Australian Constitution. What is being promoted as healing and reconciling is in practice dividing and alienating. The Voice is a proposal…


Recognising A Better Way Forward for Australians

Commentary The federal Labor government’s proposal to enshrine an “Indigenous Voice to Parliament” in the Constitution is the wrong way to recognise Aboriginal people or help those in need. It is simply not true that Indigenous communities are not heard in the public arena. What started with a trickle of Aboriginal voices, with the election…


‘Let the People Decide’: Nationals Senator Propose to Put Australian Day to a Vote

The debate over whether Australians should celebrate Australian Day or replace it with Invasion Day could be settled by putting it to a vote, suggests Nationals senator Matt Canavan. Australia Day, Jan. 26, marks the day when Captain Arthur Phillip’s First Fleet arrived in Sydney Cove (now known as Circular Quay) and claimed the southern continent…


Opposition Calls for Urgent Response to Crime Wave in Alice Springs

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has called on the government to take concrete action to deal with a crime wave that has swept the central Australian city of Alice Springs following pleas from the local mayor for additional law enforcement resources. “I’ve called for a Royal Commission in relation to the disaster, the tragedy, that’s unfolding…


‘Culture’ as a Proxy for ‘Race’

Commentary Australia’s Opposition leader, Peter Dutton, commenting on the Indigenous Voice to Parliament (the “Voice”), has demanded that Australians be given more details on the proposal prior to the referendum. Details that relate not only to the powers of the proposed body but also to its composition and how its members will be chosen. In…


‘Our Rights Didn’t Go With the Boat’: Aboriginal Land Council Claims Ownership Over Stranded Yacht

A shipwrecked yacht on a remote Australian island has become the centre of a dispute between the vessel’s owner and the local Aboriginal Land Council, which claimed the yacht belongs to them. The 40-foot “Huntress” suffered a mishap during its Sydney to Hobart race on Dec. 28, 2022, when it hit an unidentified object which…


Amending the Constitution Is Not Necessary for Integration—Australia’s Migrant Story Tells Us So

Commentary Throughout his public life, our second longest-serving prime minister, John Howard, repeatedly cautioned against depicting Australia’s history—since 1788—as little more than a disgraceful record of imperialism, exploitation, and racism. He wrote in his autobiography, “Lazarus Rising” that such an approach will be repudiated by the overwhelming majority of Australians who are proud of what…