The referendum, yes or no?

[Soccerfan]

Through my work and various sporting events, most of the welcome to country speeches have been some of the most inspiring I’ve heard. It’s a yes for me. I just hope they get the right people.

[Jamit]

Nice to see that people are actually thinking about it and taking it seriously.

One thing to think about constitutions are that they were kept simple but contain anachronisms, even by omission, that really ought to be corrected.

Eg the US Constitution right to bear arms is not fit for purpose.

The fact is that the Australian constitution was written when Aboriginal people were being stolen from, couldn't vote and weren't citizens. Surely some recognition to acknowledge the injustice of that time.

The outcome will be symbolic in the end. Plenty of fear mongering before the native title act and the apology, ie huge compensation claims, that never eventuated.

[treason]

Just vote YES to take a other reason away.

Billions of dollar spent, special minister in cabinet looking after portfolio, countless policy interventions....when will everyone realise it's a cultural problem. You can't help people that don't want to help themselves. Even if you gave them each $1m, I guarantee that a lot of them would still work out a way to squander it and fuck things up. Money doesn't fix culture.

Immigrants come here poor and in one generation go from being poor to rich. They've had several generations. Fine you had a shitty start in history, but guess what my father grew in poverty in a sleeping village and before that my grand parents were persecuted under Mao. You can make up excuses about the past, we probably all can. But what does that get you?

[kingwally]

I have lived and worked in remote communities that has massive disadvantages amongst the indigenous community, and I would dearly love those people to have their lives changed for the better. There is enormous amounts of money being poured into these communities, however it is being hijacked along the way by people at the top of these communities, and the really desperate people get fuck all. Those at the top of the pile are virtual "warlords" . The city indigenous people get equal if not slightly more favourable opportunities as any other white/ Asian/ Middle Eastern etc heritage Australians, it is the indigenous in the remote areas that are really suffering. I want to see audits on all the finances of all the organizations (possibly 3000+) to find out where the money is going. All these organizations have a direct voice to the Minister of Aboriginal affairs (Linda Burney) as well as other Indigenous ministers...and all those cunts are NOT listening. Why won't she listen ???

I think that the useless cunt called Albanese is just trying to go down in history as the "Australian Nelson Mandela" however he will go down as the Australian "Nero".

Alcohol is a major issue among those remote communities....I played footy with some champion junior players, but by early 20s they were alcoholics, and most I believe now are dead from complications from too much grog.

A massive NO from me, but I do want to see these peoples lives improved and cannot see that this Voice plan will change anything except make more millionaires out of the already millionaires living in big cities, and the "warlords" living in the remote areas. I DO want audits on all those Indigenous organizations to see where all the money is going.

[frisson]

There is enormous amounts of money being poured into these communities, however it is being hijacked along the way by people at the top of these communities, and the really desperate people get fuck all. Those at the top of the pile are virtual "warlords"
I want to see audits on all the finances of all the organizations (possibly 3000+) to find out where the money is going

Hard to argue with this
You obviously had lived experience

Over 95% of city dwellers rarely if ever come in direct contact with indigenous people. They have little real world experience about how little the system helps the most disadvantaged

[ColesBag]

I have lived and worked in remote communities that has massive disadvantages amongst the indigenous community, and I would dearly love those people to have their lives changed for the better. There is enormous amounts of money being poured into these communities, however it is being hijacked along the way by people at the top of these communities, and the really desperate people get fuck all. Those at the top of the pile are virtual "warlords" . The city indigenous people get equal if not slightly more favourable opportunities as any other white/ Asian/ Middle Eastern etc heritage Australians, it is the indigenous in the remote areas that are really suffering. I want to see audits on all the finances of all the organizations (possibly 3000+) to find out where the money is going. All these organizations have a direct voice to the Minister of Aboriginal affairs (Linda Burney) as well as other Indigenous ministers...and all those cunts are NOT listening. Why won't she listen ???

I think that the useless cunt called Albanese is just trying to go down in history as the "Australian Nelson Mandela" however he will go down as the Australian "Nero".

Alcohol is a major issue among those remote communities....I played footy with some champion junior players, but by early 20s they were alcoholics, and most I believe now are dead from complications from too much grog.

A massive NO from me, but I do want to see these peoples lives improved and cannot see that this Voice plan will change anything except make more millionaires out of the already millionaires living in big cities, and the "warlords" living in the remote areas. I DO want audits on all those Indigenous organizations to see where all the money is going.

This is my problem with it.

This is all about enlarging empire building bureaucracies whilst subverting democracy as a cherry on top.

This has absolutely nothing to do with Aboriginal people no matter how it is sold.

And remember any product that has to be sold this much isn't that much of a product. Think about it.

Vote No.

[ReginaldBubbles]

I have lived and worked in remote communities that has massive disadvantages amongst the indigenous community, and I would dearly love those people to have their lives changed for the better. There is enormous amounts of money being poured into these communities, however it is being hijacked along the way by people at the top of these communities, and the really desperate people get fuck all. Those at the top of the pile are virtual "warlords" . The city indigenous people get equal if not slightly more favourable opportunities as any other white/ Asian/ Middle Eastern etc heritage Australians, it is the indigenous in the remote areas that are really suffering. I want to see audits on all the finances of all the organizations (possibly 3000+) to find out where the money is going. All these organizations have a direct voice to the Minister of Aboriginal affairs (Linda Burney) as well as other Indigenous ministers...and all those cunts are NOT listening. Why won't she listen ???

I think that the useless cunt called Albanese is just trying to go down in history as the "Australian Nelson Mandela" however he will go down as the Australian "Nero".

Alcohol is a major issue among those remote communities....I played footy with some champion junior players, but by early 20s they were alcoholics, and most I believe now are dead from complications from too much grog.

A massive NO from me, but I do want to see these peoples lives improved and cannot see that this Voice plan will change anything except make more millionaires out of the already millionaires living in big cities, and the "warlords" living in the remote areas. I DO want audits on all those Indigenous organizations to see where all the money is going.

This is the kind of paternalism the voice is trying to avoid.

[frisson]

This is my problem with it.

This is all about enlarging empire building bureaucracies whilst subverting democracy as a cherry on top.

This has absolutely nothing to do with Aboriginal people no matter how it is sold.

And remember any product that has to be sold this much isn't that much of a product. Think about it.

Vote No.

The PM is a big picture person with no idea about reality
PM didn't know the interest rate last year and should have lost the election based on that ignorance, but Scomo would have lost to a statue last election

PM tried to sell this this referendum with no details and expected the public to vote now and know the details later. Like any contract, don't agree to anything unless all the details are on the table

[GoldfishMan]

I have lived and worked in remote communities that has massive disadvantages amongst the indigenous community, and I would dearly love those people to have their lives changed for the better. There is enormous amounts of money being poured into these communities, however it is being hijacked along the way by people at the top of these communities, and the really desperate people get fuck all. Those at the top of the pile are virtual "warlords" . The city indigenous people get equal if not slightly more favourable opportunities as any other white/ Asian/ Middle Eastern etc heritage Australians, it is the indigenous in the remote areas that are really suffering. I want to see audits on all the finances of all the organizations (possibly 3000+) to find out where the money is going. All these organizations have a direct voice to the Minister of Aboriginal affairs (Linda Burney) as well as other Indigenous ministers...and all those cunts are NOT listening. Why won't she listen ???

I think that the useless cunt called Albanese is just trying to go down in history as the "Australian Nelson Mandela" however he will go down as the Australian "Nero".

Alcohol is a major issue among those remote communities....I played footy with some champion junior players, but by early 20s they were alcoholics, and most I believe now are dead from complications from too much grog.

A massive NO from me, but I do want to see these peoples lives improved and cannot see that this Voice plan will change anything except make more millionaires out of the already millionaires living in big cities, and the "warlords" living in the remote areas. I DO want audits on all those Indigenous organizations to see where all the money is going.

Really appreciate the insights into the situation. I am genuinely clueless about it. Let me pose a question or a problem to you then.

Suppose if the Yes vote had won and the constitutional changes went ahead, would you think that it would prove to be detrimental to the fixing of the real problems as you mentioned above?

Perhaps the government could then say that "we've done our job, given you a Voice", and call it a day?

Or is it possible that having the Voice in place could be the first major step taken towards fixing those real problems?

[Double_Adapter]

I have lived and worked in remote communities that has massive disadvantages amongst the indigenous community, and I would dearly love those people to have their lives changed for the better. There is enormous amounts of money being poured into these communities, however it is being hijacked along the way by people at the top of these communities, and the really desperate people get fuck all. Those at the top of the pile are virtual "warlords" . The city indigenous people get equal if not slightly more favourable opportunities as any other white/ Asian/ Middle Eastern etc heritage Australians, it is the indigenous in the remote areas that are really suffering. I want to see audits on all the finances of all the organizations (possibly 3000+) to find out where the money is going. All these organizations have a direct voice to the Minister of Aboriginal affairs (Linda Burney) as well as other Indigenous ministers...and all those cunts are NOT listening. Why won't she listen ???

I think that the useless cunt called Albanese is just trying to go down in history as the "Australian Nelson Mandela" however he will go down as the Australian "Nero".

Alcohol is a major issue among those remote communities....I played footy with some champion junior players, but by early 20s they were alcoholics, and most I believe now are dead from complications from too much grog.

A massive NO from me, but I do want to see these peoples lives improved and cannot see that this Voice plan will change anything except make more millionaires out of the already millionaires living in big cities, and the "warlords" living in the remote areas. I DO want audits on all those Indigenous organizations to see where all the money is going.

Like you, I travel all over the place including far remote northern towns across WA, NT, SA, and FNQLD and the $33bn per annum (and some will debate the amount) that is allocated to help indigenous peoples/communities never reaches 'em. Most of the money is chewed up by beurecratic fat lard arse politicians, and beurecratic moronic government departments that are fucking next to useless.

Which brings me to my next point - what ever happened to that fucken band aid, we are the world, feed the world, we are the world, feed Africa bullshit ?
Four fucken decades have passed since that noble movement kicked into gear and as far as I know Africa is just as poor and just as hungry as it was back in 1980! So where has all the aid and all the money gone?

There are good and noble causes all around us, but human nature will always fuck it up in the end.

A big fucken NO from me, and the government can shove their $100m-$300m referendum up their arse.

[ReginaldBubbles]

Like you, I travel all over the place including far remote northern towns across WA, NT, SA, and FNQLD and the $33bn per annum (and some will debate the amount) that is allocated to help indigenous peoples/communities never reaches 'em. Most of the money is chewed up by beurecratic fat lard arse politicians, and beurecratic moronic government departments that are fucking next to useless.

Which brings me to my next point - what ever happened to that fucken band aid, we are the world, feed the world, we are the world, feed Africa bullshit ?
Four fucken decades have passed since that noble movement kicked into gear and as far as I know Africa is just as poor and just as hungry as it was back in 1980! So where has all the aid and all the money gone?

There are good and noble causes all around us, but human nature will always fuck it up in the end.

A big fucken NO from me, and the government can shove their $100m-$300m referendum up their arse.

Again, this is the type of paternalism the voice is trying to avoid. The "I've met Aboriginal people and this is how it is and I know better than them what they need so fuck letting 24 aboroginal people just tell government things from their perspective" Curious to know if you or anyone else here has any actual Aboriginal friends?

[cgi]

How does a voice fix anything? But what exactly are their problems anyway? Just leave them alone they can handle their lives better than you do.

[ReginaldBubbles]

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/fede...28-p5e8fl.html

[kingwally]

Again, this is the type of paternalism the voice is trying to avoid. The "I've met Aboriginal people and this is how it is and I know better than them what they need so fuck letting 24 aboroginal people just tell government things from their perspective" Curious to know if you or anyone else here has any actual Aboriginal friends?

Of course...I played footy with several Indigenous guys and I have 2 cousins that married Indigenous guys, and they are lovely people. I met up with one last weekend in Brisbane and he (the Indigenous one) is a definite NO voter because he knows that it will achieve nothing. This bloke was a top footballer in his day and played for one of my old clubs, he is a dedicated family man who ran a successful business for many years, supported his immediate family and also several of his sisters families.

[M0rfl1ng]

Its a no for me - too many uncertainties about the scope

[LuvAsianPuss]

I'll vote NO. There's already a minister for aboriginal affairs so why is there a need for more? There is no need for a change to the constitution. It is well within the capability of the minister for aboriginal affairs to establish an advisory group to provide advice. Also, if there is a "voice" established within the constitution, how can it just be advice, surely, the government would have to follow the constitutional advice, regardless. What next, will we have a voice for immigrants, a voice for gays and how about the poor old white Australian male? I don't trust the bastards to change the constitution. Why can't they tell us any detail of the change, they've had plenty of time to think it through?

[frisson]

I'll vote NO. Why can't they tell us any detail of the change, they've had plenty of time to think it through?

True. The Voice lobby groups have had over 5-8 years discussing the Voice

No doubt many of the lobby would have preferred to present an actual model to Australia. I suspect the model doesn't stand up to scrutiny, as it just duplicates what already exists. As a result Australia is being asked to vote for something that hasn't been properly explained

As John Farnham sang:
You're the Voice. Try to understand it

Do you understand it?
Without the details provided?

[schloong]

My fuckwit next door neighbour, who I generally avoid, said to me recently "I'm voting yes as you can't give the Aboriginies enough. How are you voting?".
I said "well, you're an idiot & none of your fucking business anyway!" and just went back inside.

[cgi]

Go back to where you come from, oh wait maybe where your ancestors come from. I'll vote yes for this

[cgi]

It's not about aboriginal people it's never been about aboriginal people it's all about left showing their moral superiority