After many months of bitter debate about the Voice, an address to the National Press Club this week reminds us that we are back at a point where it seems that, no matter what the truth may be, we will not let it lead to any change, writes Laura Tingle.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
But a plaudit for David Marr's new book, Killing for Country, which documents his family's history as professional killers of Aborigines in NSW and Queensland in the mid-1800s, is that it is one you have to keep putting down.
The immediate horror of the story clashes horrendously with our image of ourselves, and with the lofty ambitions of those who oversaw federation, and the writing of our Constitution, as the former chief justice of the High Court, Robert French, observed in a speech to the National Press Club this week.
He quoted the then premier of Queensland, Samuel Griffith, observing that "there is no doubt that here, as everywhere, there will be timid men who are afraid of launching into something new; but when was ever a great thing achieved without risking something".
The willingness of some sections of the media to perpetuate misinformation, and of other sections of the media to get lost in attempts at false balance, has made nigh on impossible a reasonably rational debate about what a permanent advisory body to the parliament and executive, whose actual remit would be defined and controlled by the parliament, might mean both symbolically and practically to Indigenous Australians.
No campaigners regularly now rage about some mysterious bureaucracy which allegedly worthlessly chews up billions of dollars in wasted funding to Indigenous people.
The inaugural, government-appointed chair of the council — which sounds like it had a job pretty much identical to that proposed for the Voice — was another prominent No campaigner, Warren Mundine.
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Jfc has the man read nothing whatsoever on Australian history?
It clashes with the white armband view of history pushed by Howard and the like. I think he is speaking for the audience a bit not so much just himself.
Once they had to acknowledge that terra nullis was fiction ( and didn’t they fight against that - they are coming for your backyard - sound familiar?) it then transitioned to: A bit of push me shove you in the frontier, shit happens then they all died of diseases.
It’s uncomfortable to acknowledge than women and children were murdered while they were in their camps. You know, it’s not sporting or chipper. Tally Ho at least they have running water now you know?
The Voice is a small step in the right direction everyone voting has the chance to be on the forward looking positive path or just saying it’s all to hard let’s keep doing what’s failed in the past.