this post was submitted on 18 Sep 2023
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Well I plan on voting no, because I disagree with the idea of making something permanent before you've demonstrated that it works. There are countless programmes and departments and taskforces that have been set up over the years that were supposed to help Aboriginals and apparently none of those seem to have worked, so it makes me very sceptical that the Voice is going to be any different. Many in the Yes crowd keep insisting that this will solve problems of the programmes in the past, but I haven't yet seen anything that listed out specific points of why each of those programmes failed, and what the Voice does differently to avoid falling into the same traps.
I just don't understand why it wasn't introduced in a temporary capacity so we could all see how it was going to work first, putting everyone's concerns to rest, and then if it proves successful I wouldn't have any issue voting yes to make it permanent. It's the whole fear of the unknown thing for me - what if it just makes things worse? One of the Yes arguments is that if they made the Voice legislatively instead of via a referendum, a future government might undo it, but that's the whole idea - if it turns out to be another failed attempt added to the pile then we can undo it and try something else. But if it is shown to work THEN we have the referendum to make it stick, I think at that time most Australians would be happy to vote yes as they would know exactly what they are voting for. I think it was incredibly silly of the government to hold the referendum so prematurely, and I think they have probably shot themselves in the foot by doing so.
Sure there are plenty of bigots out there who will vote no because of race, but the majority of people I talk to about it are voting no because they're concerned that it's going to create new problems without solving the existing ones first, and that it won't make one bit of difference to those who need it most. Concerns that could've been easily addressed with a trial run first.
So while I have no ill feelings towards anyone who intends to vote yes, and I think they are well-intentioned and are making the noble choice, I think the government has handled the whole thing poorly and they need to come back with a better plan instead of the half-arsed proposal they put forward this time. It really is straight out of Utopia - make the big announcement first and let someone else worry about whether it will actually work or not.
This is literally my reason for voting yes.
If the NBN taught me anything, it's that the Liberals will make decisions to the detriment of an entire generation of Australians for the sake of votes. They will not hesitate to throw a minority group under a bus for the chance at an extra marginal seat.
I don't know enough about The Voice to know if it's truly a good idea or not, but people far more qualified than me have spent a lot of time coming to the conclusion that it is. Therefore I've decided to trust in their credentials-backed advice.
Whereas with the NBN, I did know enough about it to know it was a great idea... and had to watch equal air time get given to people with malicious intent tell blatant lies to convince people with no idea how to vote. Then those same people posted on Facebook with great authority about why they were voting the way they were voting using the lies they'd heard.
I have no doubt that if this was some temporary or easily removed thing, the Liberals would just campaign on removing it regardless of it "working" or not.
I can't argue with your reasoning there. But I would like to think that if it actually worked, at least a future government could hold the referendum to make it permanent and everyone would know exactly what they're getting, because they'd already seen how it was going to work. There's too much uncertainty around at the moment to convince most No people to change their mind, so I think the Yes crowd are facing an uphill battle.
One of the problems I see with the Yes arguments are that they often claim some part of the Voice will work in a certain way, so there's no need for alarm, but the problem is the No crowd can see it going wrong ten different ways and there aren't any reassurances coming from the Yes side showing how none of those problems could happen. The Yes side seems too focused on the one way things might work if everyone plays by the rules and nobody does anything bad, but it means they aren't addressing the No concerns about people taking advantage of the system, as politicians typically do. So without actually addressing those issues they're going to have a hard time changing the minds of the No people I think. It might be possible but they'd have to change tactics.
I do find it interesting and somewhat ironic how between the two of us, the same things are causing us to vote differently - specifically the permanent nature of the legislation, and that we are both hearing convincing points from people we respect.
I kind of feel this is false. Not only has there been advisory bodies and committees in the past regarding other issues, but all the detail you need is in the constitutional amendment.
The biggest concern that No has is some sort of High Court challenge in which the Voice could be allowed some sort of enumerated legislative capacity, the second is that it could provide "cover" to a government to introduce bills.
The first one is explicitly denied in the amendment; Government has the ability to make laws subject to the current constitution, and retains all ability to make laws regarding the composition and powers of the Voice. There's a potential that a High Court ruling could one day decide on such things as minimum standards for composition (such as being composed of Aboriginals) and representation (can't force them to fax only documents).
The second is true, but ignores the 10s of major think tanks, the media, public opinion and reactions, foreign representations and every other excuse under the sun a politician can use as cover for their decisions.
A lot has been said about lack of detail, but the important thing is looking at the constitutional amendment, all the cards are in Parliament's hands. If the Liberals think the Voice as it stands is bad, all they need is a simple majority to change the composition etc. Truly, they think a voice is a bad deal entirely.