Why I will vote "No".
by Viv Forbes of Australia's Saltbush Club
2 October 2023
Australians are being asked to approve a permanent change to our
constitution. This change is racist in intent and divisive in effect.
No humans evolved here in Australia - our ancestors all came from somewhere
else. The literal meaning of "indigenous" is "born here", so most of us are
indigenous. To try to divide indigenous Australians on the basis of skin
colour or length of ancestry is more about politics than justice or good
government. We are all Australians and we should never contemplate
constitutional changes that promote and solidify racial division.
I am voting "No" because this proposal is going in the wrong direction and
is serving other agendas.
There are many reasons to vote NO:
1. No humans evolved in Australia - the pioneers all came from somewhere
else, usually on things that floated. And rock art in the Kimberlies and
other relics tell us that the current aboriginals were not the first humans
to occupy this land.
2. Despite having "native title" to far more land per head of population
than all other Australians, tribal aboriginals often live in degraded
communal enclaves with poor community protection especially for women and
children. They need individual freehold titles not communal title.
3. We need to question closely anything promoted so strongly by their
ABC, QANTAS plus big banks, big business, big miners, the bureaucracy, the
ALP/Green/Teal coalition and the Communist Party.
4. Political power should not be granted to one race of Australians -
Australia is now home to Aboriginals, Islanders, English, Scottish, Irish,
Welsh, Dutch, Italian, German, Scandinavians, Melanesians, Greek, Kiwis,
Afghans and Africans, plus other Europeans, Asians, and Africans. Most have
made permanent homes here. All who embrace Australian citizenship should be
treated equally before the law.
5. This Voice proposal would make a permanent racial division in
Australia. But how will the favoured race be continually identified? Will
the chosen people or the more recent "invaders" need to be tattooed? Or will
DNA evidence be needed to prove racial identity?
6. People identifying as Aboriginals already have more representation in
Parliament than their numbers would justify. They already have several
voices.
7. Huge government departments and billions of dollars are already
representing aboriginal interests, but their conditions do not improve.
8. We have noted how some Australians are already being banned from
certain tourist spots, private landowners feel threatened by the relentless
advance of "Native Title", and explorers find Sacred sites and Rainbow
Serpents appearing on promising mineral discoveries and along infrastructure
sites and routes.
9. We are continually annoyed to be "welcomed" to every big event by
people stomping around in red nappies, blowing smoke and making drainpipe
noises. Most of these ceremonies are modern inventions. We do not need to be
welcomed to our own country.
10. We note with annoyance that place names are being changed suddenly and
without warning or consultation. Imagine what is in store for names like
Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide
and Cooktown. Or King George Square? And what about the nation of
"Australia" that was created in 1901? Already the red and black flag is
being flown next to the Australian Flag.
Next the statues will start to fall.
11. Their ABC has managed to alienate every bit of land as "land of the XXX
People". That has just alienated the rest of us.
12. There never was "an aboriginal nation" - just many tribes each subject
to unwritten tribal law. Will the Voice be called to adjudicate tribal
disputes?
13. We are already seeing certain books that report inconvenient history or
anthropological records are disappearing from public libraries. Will the
Voice be deciding what we are allowed to read?
14. "The Voice" would soon be clamouring for treaties, reparations and
seizure of more lands. However, Aboriginals would not get individual
freehold titles - just communal ownership where some elders control
everything. Property owned by everyone is cared for by no one.
15. The most recent aboriginal migrants brought their dogs (dingoes) to
Australia. They are now protected in many areas. But our horses, donkeys,
sheep, cattle, camels and buffalo are "ferals" to be eliminated.
16. Giving a special "Voice" to people of a certain skin colour or genetic
history will just promote everlasting division and hatred. It aims to
separate and give special privileges to certain people and their descendants
forever.
17. We must VOTE NO.
Further Reading:
Roy Morgan reported on Likely Legal Complications:
"Retired judge Terence Cole, KC has warned of the Uluru Statement from the
Heart's implications for modern Australia. This includes the prospect of
future reparations and major changes to Australia's legal system. Cole
concludes that Australians need to understand that if the Voice referendum
succeeds, some will use it to support the demands for recognition of
co-existing sovereignty, a Makarrata commission designed to produce a
treaty, monetary compensation for past events, and a rewriting of Australian
history. Whatever may have occurred in the past, all Australians now live in
a democracy. Central to that concept is that each person has one vote, and
they are free to make representations or advocate for such policies as they
regard as desirable. Cole concludes that it is not clear why either race or
length of forebears occupation should constitute grounds for confirming an
additional right to have a further Voice to the parliament or government."
We already have a Voice:
<https://saltbushclub.com/2023/09/19/we-have-the-voice-already/>
https://saltbushclub.com/2023/09/19/we-have-the-voice-already/
See Kamahl being bullied because he changed his mind as he learned more:
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YH4dd4QRYoI>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YH4dd4QRYoI
"Are We Indigenes Yet?"
<https://saltbushclub.com/2021/05/15/are-we-indigenes-yet/>
https://saltbushclub.com/2021/05/15/are-we-indigenes-yet/
The first Aboriginal "Voice" in the Australian Parliament was Senator
Neville Bonner elected in 1971. There are now eleven of them which is an
over-representation of Voices. Why do we need another Voice, and who will
decide what it says?
<https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamen
tary_Library/pubs/rp/rp1718/Quick_Guides/IndigenousParliamentarians>
https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliament
ary_Library/pubs/rp/rp1718/Quick_Guides/IndigenousParliamentarians
Some 85,000 people have recently "identified" as aboriginal. Maybe we should
all enrol here?
<https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/bennelong-papers/2020/12/the-white-privileg
e-of-being-black/>
https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/bennelong-papers/2020/12/the-white-privilege
-of-being-black/
It is all about Power and requires re-writing of history:
<https://wentworthreport.com/2022/12/19/australias-aboriginal-industry-alway
s-was-always-will-be-about-power/>
https://wentworthreport.com/2022/12/19/australias-aboriginal-industry-always
-was-always-will-be-about-power/
They already have a voice: "The National Indigenous Australians Agency".
Revenue from Government: $268M
Employee Benefits: $163M
<https://www.transparency.gov.au/annual-reports/national-indigenous-australi
ans-agency/reporting-year/2021-22-32>
https://www.transparency.gov.au/annual-reports/national-indigenous-australia
ns-agency/reporting-year/2021-22-32
What is it all about?
<https://saltbushclub.com/2023/09/24/the-uluru-statement-explained/>
https://saltbushclub.com/2023/09/24/the-uluru-statement-explained/
Alan Jones on Indigenous Activists:
Alan Jones on <https://youtu.be/Wob3xk3efpA> https://youtu.be/Wob3xk3efpA
Aboriginal Woman Kerry White says "NO":
on <https://youtu.be/72um7hpaXrk> https://youtu.be/72um7hpaXrk
What is this Referendum about?:
<https://youtu.be/QmtyCgmBGTM> https://youtu.be/QmtyCgmBGTM
The Hatred from some Voice advocates:
<https://saltbushclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/langton-1200x675.jpg>
https://saltbushclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/langton-1200x675.jpg
The Push Back against Voice Vilification:
<https://saltbushclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/lion-flag.png>
https://saltbushclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/lion-flag.png
Captain James Cook - the Great Invader?
<https://saltbushclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/cook.jpg>
https://saltbushclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/cook.jpg
Uluru Statement - One page or 26 pages?
<https://saltbushclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/uluru-1200x801.jpg>
https://saltbushclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/uluru-1200x801.jpg
John Anderson on the Voice and the Constitution:
<https://saltbushclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/the-voice-1200x867.jpg>
https://saltbushclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/the-voice-1200x867.jpg
<https://youtu.be/ZFcHsjh2iuw> https://youtu.be/ZFcHsjh2iuw
How to Fool the Experts:
<https://youtu.be/oVlFs9tfNPo> https://youtu.be/oVlFs9tfNPo
The Voice? "I'm Over it".
<https://saltbushclub.com/2023/08/01/the-voice-im-over-it/>
https://saltbushclub.com/2023/08/01/the-voice-im-over-it/
Geoffrey Blainey on the Voice:
<https://saltbushclub.com/2023/07/28/geoffrey-blainey-on-the-voice/>
https://saltbushclub.com/2023/07/28/geoffrey-blainey-on-the-voice/
Paying for the Land you are on:
<https://saltbushclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/canadian-receipt.jpeg>
https://saltbushclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/canadian-receipt.jpeg
The Voice - all about Power:
<https://saltbushclub.com/2023/05/30/a-voice-no-all-about-power/>
https://saltbushclub.com/2023/05/30/a-voice-no-all-about-power/
One More Indigenous Voice?:
<https://saltbushclub.com/2023/03/24/one-more-indigenous-voice/>
https://saltbushclub.com/2023/03/24/one-more-indigenous-voice/
Viv Forbes
Washpool
Qld 4306 Australia
Viv Forbes has spent much of a long life working in the North Australian
outback in grazing and mining activities. He has employed aboriginal
assistants, has inspected aboriginal stone tools and cave paintings, and has
been involved in legal matters involving native title claimants.