A FAIR ENOUGH REASON TO VOTE YES
Fair go. Fair Enough. Fair Dinkum.
We talk about fairness more than any other country in the world.
We argue about it on the footy field, in the pub and the parliament. It’s even in the title our national anthem. It’s the yardstick we use to judge things.
It’s a part of why we are the best country in the world.
So what’s this got to do with the national vote happening on 14 October?
I reckon most Australians think it’s fair enough that we recognise Indigenous Australians in our Constitution.
Afterall, it’s just a fact that when Captain Cook arrived in Botany Bay there were Indigenous Australians here too. They have been here for a long time. About 60,000 years, and it’s about time we mentioned this in the Constitution.
Aussies are also practical and smart people.
We know a lot of Indigenous Australians live pretty tough lives and we want our taxpayer dollars spent on things that will actually work.
They are not working at the moment. Almost everything Canberra politicians have tried over the last few decades hasn’t worked.
Now here’s the good news. The vote we are having on 14 October isn’t the idea of Canberra politicians. It’s the idea of Indigenous Australians.
They are asking for something pretty simple and pretty practical. They are asking us to listen to them about what will work.
That’s what the Voice is. An advisory committee of Indigenous Australians. That’s all.
In a nutshell, this vote on 14 October is about recognising Indigenous Australians, setting up a committee to listen to them and ultimately getting better results for them and the nation.
Given the failure of Canberra politicians over the last century, I reckon that’s fair enough.
Over the next few weeks you are going to hear some pretty weird and wacky things about why this advisory committee will be the end of the world.
When you do, remember this.
When Mabo and Native Title happened, some politicians said you would lose your home.
Turns out that was all BS.
Remember Kevin Rudd’s Apology to the Stolen Generations? When that happened Peter Dutton said it would cost $10 billion. Turns out that was BS too.
Now he is saying similar things about the Voice. And it’s BS too.
Aussies are too smart and too fair to fall for the same old lies.
The truth is there is nothing to be scared of.
If we vote yes on 14 October the world won’t end. The economy won’t stop. Our lives won’t change. Not for 97 percent of us. But for 3 percent of Australians it will help.
And that’s a fair enough reason to vote yes.
This opinion piece was first published in The Daily Telegraph.
