Jack, I have to totally agree with you. Many language groups had no opportunity to be included at the Uluru meeting, including my children’s language group.
Any such “Voice” would only be inclusive and represent all aboriginal groups if it included a member from each currently functioning tribe. This would ensure the remote and regional voices were heard, however, given the totally disparate needs of the different types of aboriginal groups, it’s difficult to see any type of consensus coming from this type of group.
As it is, we already had an indigenous advisory group to government. I’m not sure what another group would achieve.
What does need to happen is that all mention of race is removed from the constitution, which would ensure no indigenous only legislation could be enacted and guarantee total equality for all citizens.

Are you on the electoral roll? Do you bother to vote?

And like anyone else, your representative speaks for you and your issues, or doesn't get your vote next time! And the same for every Australian!

If you want indigenous voices, preselect them, then vote for them!

We're gradually seeing indigenous faces in parliament, Most of who seem well-grounded down to earth folk with good heads on their shoulders!? I live in one of the largest electorates in Q'ld, and my representative isn't convinced that climate change is real!?

Sometimes, global issues and what we must do about them become more important than piss-ant local, special interest issues!

Time to get real about real issues, like how to end domestic abuse, child sexual abuse and what needs to be done to improve indigenous self-determination and commercial opportunity! And for that, there's not a white way, or a black way, just a right way!

And start by ensuring indigenous Australians have the very best attendance in our schools, get educated and go on to university and earn a degree. Become doctors, lawyers and obtain degrees in business management and political science! The latter an oxymoron if ever there was one!

If you want a place in the white man's world as an equal!? Then earn it! It won't ever be yours even if you are the smartest guy in the room with the biggest brain!? if you cannot speak in the dominant culture's language! And while you are at it call a spade a spade and own your own behaviour!

The pages of history, once accurately written can never ever be erased! Can't change it or ask others who weren't present or involved or responsible, to accept some blame based on their skin colour.

Moreover, there's only one constant in the universe and that constant is constant change. You must change with it or be steamrolled by it!
Alan B.

Personally I would love to see Jacinta Price and Warren Mundine in leading roles in our Parliament. Unfortuntaly they are not part of the 'swamp' that uses activist as pawns in rewriting history, ingraining racial hatred into the young and demonising some of our great British hertiage. With lying liberal media like the abc we will continue to see race division while ignoring child abuse, domestic violence and youth crime which are never addressed. The 'invaders' from hundreds of years ago will be blamed for non action and perpeuate the victim status allowing many half, quarter or tenth caste leaches to suck the public purse while claiming victimhood.

Big Nana.

Your on the mark voicing a desire for true equality.
Unfortunately, in political Nu-Speak, equality has a meaning totally different to its English translation. What's in a word?

In community terms, politically motivated equality will fail. In fact, I clinically conclude community divisions will widen.
The evidence for that conclusion is clear from your own comments, and that of the author. If aboriginal inclusiveness is missing inside the club, it is unreasonable to expect agreement outside of it.

The "other" question is, does the proposed innovation of constitutional change, advance the aboriginal cause of equality in the real sense or, does it actually retard it by alienating aboriginal intergration with the broader community, by the current process.

Dan

SDFSDTG

Hi Alan,

Yes, we can't reverse history, but I can't help thinking that many Indigenous activists believe that it can be done, if only people complain enough. As well, there is a sort of consequentialism in people's thought that whatever happened, given that whites had total power (very debatable), then everything that is claimed to have happened to Indigenous people was their fault, from their deliberate actions.

And on top of all those misconceptions of reality, there is the worship of Magic Bullets, the One True Solutions: a treaty, a third house of parliament, 'sovereignty', or even more fuzzily, a 'Voice'. Yeah, that will do it.

Surely the point about a treaty - apart from the necessary fact that it precedes what is to come, it doesn't come AFTER 200 years of history - is what is in it ? What is the point of anybody getting up off their backsides and lifting a finger, if they don't know what it's for ?

I suspect that the great majority of Indigenous people aren't really interested: in Victoria, with thirty thousand Indigenous people able to vote in the coming elections for members of a state Indigenous Assembly (to be tasked with drawing up a draft treaty), so far only two thousand people have enrolled - hardly a ringing endorsement, let alone unanimity of support, for the process. And of those, one could surmise that not many more than the relations and friends of the seventy-odd candidates will end up voting - maybe five per cent of the total adult population. A bit like the old ATSIC days, when some people were 'elected' to paid positions with barely a dozen 'votes'.

People in the North complain that bodies like ATSIC did nothing for them, only for the urban population. The urban population complained that nothing was done for them, it all went to remote communities. But the process certainly supported many of the usual Indigenous elite, perhaps thousands, in federal and state ATSIC jobs. And their relations and friends, of course.

So let's do it all again, shall we ?

Joe