Are we ready for Constitutional change?

Indigenous Australian singer and songwriter, Kutcha Edwards, takes a keen interest in the Bass Coast and South Gippsland area.

And a few years ago, while playing a gig in The Glade at Inverloch, he said frankly that he wasn’t sure whether the broad sweep of the Australian population was ready for a treaty statement, or even the proposed ‘Voice’ changes to the Constitution outlined by the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last week.

We’re not sure what Uncle Kutcha’s position is now but it’s a very important question to ask, how ready are we to support change, as a failure to pass the proposed variation by referendum could set the issue back for many years, as we saw with the republic question.

In general terms, most Australians are proud of our indigenous heritage, the stories, the 45,000 years of history, the culture, the art, the sporting ability, the involvement at all levels and how it enriches us as a nation.

But the fact is that it’s only been in recent years that we’ve begun to understand that there are 500 different Aboriginal communities and hundreds of languages.
At the time, Kutcha said he thought a more extensive education program was needed before we went to referendum.

And while the conventional wisdom is that you have to keep a referendum question simple for it to have any chance of passing, there are many unresolved issues that should be addressed now as well including the republic issue, whether or not we celebrate Australia Day on January 26, the appropriateness of the flag… many equally important issues as the indigenous voice question.

The other thing we must have, before spending millions of dollars on a referendum doomed to failure, is bipartisan support. If you don’t have support on both sides of politics, it’s got no hope.

Is it time to hold a referendum on the following question: “Do you support an alteration to the Constitution that establishes an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice?”

No, not now, not without community education, not without bipartisan political support, not without a proper explanation and not in its present form.