"I am continually amazed at the negative discussions that are occurring about the Voice to Parliament. A constant refrain coming from the No camp is that somehow this “advisory” group has an “unfair” voice in Parliament. And evidence is usually proffered to say that there are X number of Aboriginal descent Members of Parliament already.
Let me remind all the naysayers that this is a Voice TO Parliament. It is not a Voice IN Parliament. In other words, decision making is still retained by Parliament. That has not been abrogated to this advisory group. The advisory group will make recommendations to parliament on matters that impact on Aboriginal people.
In many ways it is no different to the Multicultural Advisory Groups and others that already exist. The main difference is that this group is enshrined in the Constitution and cannot be undone by the next government that comes in (without going to a referendum).
At the end of the provision of this advice, Parliament will make the decision as to whether it is something that they need to incorporate in their deliberations.
It is clear that what is in place currently is not working with disadvantage being visited upon Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups in much larger measure than other groups. Therefore we have to do something. This Voice to Parliament is a good start. Once this is done we can look at whether a Treaty along the lines of the Waitangi treaty in NZ could work.
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