Media release – Aboriginal Land Council Of Tasmania, 29 November 2022
Mansell Welcomes Move By Nationals To Block Referendum For Voice To Parliament
Chairman of the Land Council Michael Mansell has welcomed the decision by the Nationals not to support the referendum for a voice to the parliament, but for entirely different reasons to those of the Nationals.
Mr Mansell said, “A voice to the parliament is the weakest form of Aboriginal empowerment anyone could come up with. We don’t want more advisory bodies: we want to have a say on the decision making inside the parliament and not outside the parliament.
Most Aborigines in Tasmania support designated seats inside the parliament.
Each state is allocated 12 seats in the Senate. Setting aside one of the twelve in each state for an Aboriginal elected by Aboriginals gives us six Aboriginal Senators in addition to those Aboriginals elected through political parties. It is far from perfect, but it gives us a voices inside parliament, able to vote on laws instead of an advisory body sitting outside that can be ignored.
No referendum is needed for designated seats. The government has the numbers in the federal parliament to amend the Commonwealth Electoral Act to establish the six seats at any time.
The delay in designated seats is the current dominating campaign for a referendum on the voice. If the Nationals and others block the referendum, we can begin work immediately work an Aboriginal friendly federal government and have the designated Aboriginal seats ready to go before the next federal election in 2025. But while the referendum is still being touted as 18 months away, we cannot get the government to consider seats inside the parliament.
It is for that reason we welcome the Nationals move although they do make strange bed partners. Their reasons for opposing the referendum are different to ours but we end up at the same place.”
Ted Mead
December 1, 2022 at 08:11
The whole ‘Voice to Parliament’ thing seems to be another agonisingly slow process for Aboriginal people’s representation! How effective it will be is unknown, although maybe some voice may be better than none.
I think Michael Mansell described it sincerely in his previous press release during winter!
Media release – Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania, 31 July 2022
Ben Marshall
December 1, 2022 at 16:04
Mansell’s criticism is valid and his suggestions for genuine restoration of power to First Nations are worthwhile. His choice to dismiss the Voice, however, inadvertently dismisses all the First Nations’ peoples who support it, and who see it as just one step toward justice.
He also chooses not to explicitly call out the Nationals’ rejection of Voice, merely calling them ‘strange bedfellows’ when in fact they have ruthlessly rejected First Nations’ attempts to redress past and current inequity and injustices.
Bearing in mind that the Voice could be used to bring about the real representation he calls for, Mansell might be wise to listen to the greater number of colleagues in favour of the Voice, such as Lesley Turner in today’s Guardian, than risk finding himself standing beside Jacinta Price, and inadvertently allied with the rabid dogs howling from the far Right on Sky After Dark.