Australia has voted on the Indigenous Voice To Parliament:
‘The Australian people always get it right’: Deputy prime minister
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles says the government will continue its work on reconciliation and closing the gap despite the defeat of the Voice to parliament referendum.
“Obviously for those of us who are supporting the Yes campaign, it wasn’t the night we hoped for, and I am disappointed, but the Australian people always get it right, and we absolutely accept this result,” he said on ABC’s Insiders this morning.
“But I don’t take last night as any vote against reconciliation, and I think both sides of the argument made that clear, even in their comments after the result last night, nor do I take this as a vote against a will, on the part of the Australian people, to see a closing of the gap in social disadvantage which affects Indigenous Australians.
“To close the gap, and from the government’s point of view, obviously that is now our focus. The Australian people have asked us to do this in a different way. We hear that and we’ll do that and we will now look at how we can work harder.”
Marles said the government had of course weighed up the issues when it became clear the Coalition decided against supporting the Voice, but they always believed it was best to press on.
“Did we understand that it was more difficult? Of course we did. But we didn’t go to the election saying, ‘We will take this to the Australian people so long as Peter Dutton agrees’,” he said.
Here is the link:
In the end it wasn’t even close with the NO vote fining up at close to 60%
It seems clear that despite this overall rejectionist sentiment there are a great number of health related initiatives (including Digital Health development) that need to continue and be further evolved..
The physical and mental health of many of the First Australians is simply unconscionable and an outcome of the failed referendum must surely be to make sure the efforts at consultation with and health support of this population are accelerated and not reduced.
The sad thing is that after a gazillion reports we all know what needs to be done and what resources are required. The time for actual delivery has now arrived, as we put to failed referendum behind us and move forward in a positive way! I wonder will our Governments step up?
David.
4 comments:
'scuse me, but it wasn't a "failed referendum". As a referendum it was a total success. No violence, just an answer to a question that reflects the feelings of the nation.
Yes there is a gap, but it is not the only gap. Fixing gaps will not happen by dwelling on the past. My mother's family had to leave Northern Island because of religious bigotry. Many people have left NI for many reason over centuries and they've just got on with their lives. The ones who caused death and destruction in NI in "the troubles" were the ones who stayed on and yearned for the past.
You can't change the past but you can learn from it and choose to work to improve the future.
Other gaps.... NDIS, FDS (Forensic Disability Service)
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-16/forensic-disability-patient-trapped-four-corners/102933928
It's all so much easier to spend billions on a technology (non-)solution that delivers nothing rather than fix real problems
Agree the referendum delivered the outcome the majority voted for. What is coming through is that too many Governments ( elected and non-elected officials) are unable to accept the outcome nor look into the mess they have created, the mismanagement of indigenous funds and representative bodies. These are the same people who refuse to see the MyHR and ADHA for the failed experiment that they are.
I voted yes, and I vote for a complete royal commission into the way indigenous affairs are run in Australia. I also recognise that those who would establish, run and ultimately implement recommendations are the same bloated fools we need a Royal Commission on.
Thank you, David, I always appreciate your platform, a balanced and open forum should really be more widely recognised.
Dwelling on and learning from are just shades of the the same process. We need to collectively reconcile with our past and not sweep it into history else we show unintended acquienscence with those past actions by not proactively dealing with their consequences.
Post a Comment