First Nations Voice Going Ahead – Like It or Lump It!

Tomorrow 16 March is election day for the South Australian First Nations Voice, although you probably wouldn’t know it. On news.com.au, their top stories are, “‘WHEELS ARE COMING OFF’: Palace in crisis following Photoshop fail”, and, “I thought my vagina was broken”. Doing a search for “voice” reveals zero results on their front page. It clearly isn’t a top priority. The ABC is not much better. These are their South Australian Top Stories, and again, doing a search, there is not one mention of the South Australian Voice. Although, they did find time to talk about a ping pong ball-sized blueberry, and actor Olivia Munn’s double mastectomy. I’m not saying these aren’t important, but it’s just odd, for an election that’s being held tomorrow for Australia’s very first Indigenous Voice to Parliament, it’s getting very little coverage. I was only reminded about it because a viewer told me.

No matter what happens tomorrow, this First Nations Voice is going ahead whether you like it or not. It differs from last year’s federal Indigenous Voice to Parliament in that it’s not constitutionally enshrined. It passed Parliament last year, which means it now exists in state laws. So as long as the current Labor government are in power, this state-based Voice will continue to exist. There is a state election in 2026, so this means there will be at least two years of this Voice to look forward to. The Liberal opposition have stated that they will have no qualms abolishing it, however, if it proves to be ineffective. Look, I don’t know, maybe the Voice will end up being really good. Dividing everybody up on their ethnicity might be the best thing Australia has ever seen. I doubt it. I think it will just add another layer of bureaucracy that will achieve very little for disadvantaged Indigenous folk. But I’m happy to be proven wrong.

As I said in a previous video, only people who identify as First Nations can vote in tomorrow’s election. As there are less than 3% of South Australians who identify as Indigenous, and voting is not compulsory, there is a very real chance that very few people turn out to vote, except in the main centres like Adelaide. It makes you wonder whether this is really going to be representative of all Aboriginal people. Personally, if I was allowed to vote, I’d vote for the AC/DC guy.

There will be six regions across South Australia, with an elected body for each. All elected members will be First Nations people and will be elected by First Nations people who live in their region. Each region will have seven elected members, except Central, which includes the capital city of Adelaide, which will have 11 elected members, because more activists live in Adelaide – no, that’s just my attempt at humour. The stated reason is that “Central Region has a higher population of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people”, and more activists who want more power. Sorry, there I go again.

But seriously, here’s the ballot paper for the Far North Region, 13 candidates I believe, and here’s the one for Adelaide, Central Region. I can barely fit them all onscreen. Everyone wants a piece of the action. Officially, successful candidates will be able to speak in parliament and have regular meetings with politicians and head bureaucrats. This is not nothing. They will have more power than non-Indigenous people, hence why there are a huge number of candidates.

As reported by the Australian, Robert Lawrie, a senior elder from the Mirning community whose traditional lands lay on the coastal region of the Great Australian Bight, this is not him pictured, this is Bunna Lawrie Senior Elder and Whale Songman, I don’t know if they’re related, but they both are Mirning elders, Robert had some concerns regarding the new Voice to Parliament. He said, “Once the vote goes ahead, the ramifications would be too terrible to imagine. Innocent Aboriginal people within South Australia will become victims of a controlled process that will further divide families and communities, whilst a small handful will make decisions affecting all Aboriginal people without majority support and without traditional integrity.”

Anyway South Australians, you’ve got at least two more years of this. I hope it all goes well for you. But at the very least, it’s a great experiment to see if this actually benefits Indigenous people, or if it just grinds the South Australian Parliament to a halt.

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Allégro by Emmit Fenn