Former Immigration Minister Alex Hawke says migrant communities must be better educated on The Voice proposal to change Australia’s Constitution.
Later this year, Australians will go to the polls to vote on a referendum to amend the preamble of the nation’s founding document (to include recognition of Indigenous people) and establish an advisory body to the Parliament and executive.
The body would have the power to “make representations” on matters, including new bills, deemed relevant to Indigenous Australians.
The Voice is part of a larger initiative under the Uluru Statement from the Heart to strengthen reconciliation between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and mainstream Australia following the colonial settlement era.
A Quarter of the Population Has No Link to Colonialism: MP
However, the Liberal-National Coalition has opposed The Voice saying it will embed racial division into the Constitution, while Mr. Hawke said there was no connection between a large portion of the population and Australia’s colonial past.“Over seven million people in Australia were born overseas, representing 27.6 percent of the population. Most people have no ownership of our colonial period,” he said in a statement to The Epoch Times.
“There’s no doubt that the polls are telling us people don’t understand exactly what The Voice is or how it will function. That’s all demographics, including older people, younger people and migrants,” he added.
While Western Sydney MP Melissa McIntosh shared a similar view.
“When I speak with people in my community, they are worried they haven’t been told by the Albanese Labor government what the Voice is about. They are also concerned that it is not about equality for all, which is everything in this country,” she said.
“One constituent from Penrith said Australians, no matter what your background, deserve fair and equal representation in our Parliament, not just certain groups, and another resident from Emu Heights said to me that all Australians should have an equal voice.”
Weak Understanding of The Voice Among Migrants
The MP’s comments come after a small survey from migration agent AMES Australia (of 150 people) revealed that 67 percent of respondents were not aware or partly aware of The Voice proposal, and 75 percent did not know it involved altering the Constitution.Around 50 percent said they were supportive of the proposal, while 40 percent said they were unsure.
As the debate around The Voice continues, support has steadily dwindled with polling in Queensland, New South Wales, Western Australia, and South Australia revealing a drop in support.
The Labor government and corporate Australia have continued to campaign for the proposal, however.
“There is an eight-year life expectancy gap between Indigenous Australians and non-Indigenous Australians,” he wrote in an opinion piece.
Mr. Butler said Indigenous Australians faced problems like fatal rheumatic heart disease and trachoma, noting that 90 percent of vision loss by the community was preventable.
“In Australia, trachoma is found primarily in regional and remote First Nations populations. Australia has the dubious honour of being the only high-income country where trachoma is endemic,” the minister said.
“With one in 30 Indigenous children aged five to nine contracting trachoma, Australia is not on track to eliminate the condition as a public health issue in First Nations communities.”
