this post was submitted on 18 Jul 2023
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The Voice referendum official Yes/No pamphlets (www.aec.gov.au)
submitted 1 year ago by Mountaineer to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Your argument is driven by racism. The same old tired racist arguments that have been floating around since time immemorial.

“People are just claiming they are Aboriginal to get government handouts”

“They’re not really asylum seekers they are economic migrants looking for government handouts”

“They are going to create a new level of government so they can claim government handouts”

They are not getting inequitable representation. They are effectively being given a constitutionally recognised lobby group. The Government of the day will be able to completely ignore them like they ignore climate scientists and environmentalists.

Ok yes. “But then why does it need to be in the constitution” because the Coalition disbanded every non constitutionally recognised group that has ever been created.

[–] ZodiacSF1969 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

So lame when legitimate points are dismissed as 'racism'. It is absolutely possible to make these arguments, not all of which I even agree with, or present these issues, without having a racist intent.

I was hoping the level of discourse would be better here, sadly it's just /r/Australia2

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

It wasn't "dismissed". They clearly outlined why these are long-standing racist tropes and why the "inequitable representation" argument is dishonest. Did you actually bother to read the whole comment or did you just get to "racism" and have a mental breakdown?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

The Government of the day will be able to completely ignore them like they ignore climate scientists and environmentalists.

This is how it is supposed to be. They're ignored, but so is everyone else. We all wish that the government would only listen and act on our preferences and beliefs, but the system is designed so that every Australian citizen receives one vote to elect their preferred representative and we must engage with that elected representative to guide parliament.
There are always going to be lobbyists, special groups, or even corruption that interfere with this system, but these are issues that can be managed by legislation and government processes. Indigenous Australians already have The National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA), employing 1,023 full time staff and a budget of $285M each year specifically for the purpose to "lead and influence change across government to ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have a say in the decisions that affect them."

Regardless of race or ancestry, let's all be ignored by government equally.