Amidst the debate and skirmishes surrounding The Voice referendum, serious questions arise concerning sovereignty and reparations of the colonising power. There is pushback from the usual right wing quarters like the IPA, the Murdoch press, Advance Australia , and the federal LNP.
More importantly, on the sidelines, a large silent indigenous sector recognises The Voice as a toothless tiger wrapped up in the colonial constitution of Australia. They seek a treaty , sovereignty and restitution.
Prominent amongst these is Lidia Thorpe a Gunnai Gunditjmara Djab Wurrung woman and a member of the Blak Sovereignty Movement. In August, Lidia Thorpe spoke to the National Press Club. She outlined her position on The Voice.
Thorpe outlined five steps she believed were vital to achieving Indigenous self-determination:
- Truth-telling about Australia’s history
- Implementing the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody
- Implementation of recommendations from the Bringing Them Home Report
- Writing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples into Australian law
- Treaty
A Treaty would give Indigenous groups the ability to veto projects which destroyed culturally-significant areas, she said.
Thorpe said treaty negotiations should also include reparations.
“A lot of money [is] owed to First peoples. Look at the resources that have been extracted over 200 years … It would make the country broke. That’s why we need to negotiate,” she said.
David Meredith in Pearls and Irritations explores and elaborates the issue of colonisation of Australia and raises the issue of reparations for first nations people.
