Carlton Supporters Club

I heard an Aboriginal bloke on the wireless today who gave a very good reason why an Indigenous voice to Parliament would be a good thing.

Basically, he said that, as a taxpayer, he was unhappy about the money that is spent on programs for Indigenous folk and doesn’t produce the intended/desired outcomes.  He felt that having an Indigenous voice to Parliament would mean that Government funding for Indigenous programs would be better targeted and produce better outcomes.  That would be a win-win.

Prof, Lydia is the other side of the fence to Pauline, so represents the other side of Pauline.  Or the way she carries on, just herself.

I heard an Aboriginal bloke on the wireless today who gave a very good reason why an Indigenous voice to Parliament would be a good thing.

Basically, he said that, as a taxpayer, he was unhappy about the money that is spent on programs for Indigenous folk and doesn’t produce the intended/desired outcomes.  He felt that having an Indigenous voice to Parliament would mean that Government funding for Indigenous programs would be better targeted and produce better outcomes.  That would be a win-win.

The first time I voted in a Commonwealth election, I voted for Neville Bonner who became the first ever Indigenous person in Parliament.  However, Senator Bonner and the Indigenous people in the current Parliament are there to represent their electorates, not just Indigenous people (who would make up a small percentage of the voters in most electorates).

I don’t know the mechanics of the Indigenous voice, no-one does at this stage, but I am familiar with The Uluru Statement from the Heart.  It’s advocating constitutional change to improve representation of Indigenous Australians to the Commonwealth Government.  Victoria already has such an arrangement in place and South Australia is establishing its Indigenous representative body.  The sky hasn’t fallen in Victoria and I suspect that it won’t in South Australia … or the Commonwealth.

I think Macca37 raises an interesting point with respect to how the mechanics of the indigenous voice will work with the different communities, language and effectively nations that exist in Australia.  I do know that a government institution in Victoria, hired the wrong person from an indigenous background to serve as indigenous liasion in a health care service, and that person was from Queensland with the result that it did more harm than good for the people in that Victorian community and resulted in them being disengaged.

I do know that a government institution in Victoria, hired the wrong person from an indigenous background to serve as indigenous liasion in a health care service, and that person was from Queensland with the result that it did more harm than good for the people in that Victorian community and resulted in them being disengaged.

He saw 'himself' as different.

But is that the voice you will hear, or one more radical?

On a previous theme....if you want to see a 'rainbow' have a look at a map of the indigenous groups within Australia.

I remember when I first started teaching I was sitting with a young indigenous lad.
He was from the Northern Territory and somehow or other had found himself caught up in the NSW  juvenile Justice system.

We were watching a game of touch football and more than half the boys were indigenous inner city kids.
We talked about home and the the things he liked to do...a lot of hunting and fishing, very little schooling was pretty much the things he enjoyed.

He pointed to the group playing football and said..."See these blokes, they're 'yellowfellas' (I'm not sure why he picked that colour but he did). They don't know any of that stuff."
He saw 'himself' as different.

So finding that united indigenous voice may still be a challenge in this day and age.
Some issues are universal, others are area or people specific.

Victoria’s first people’s assembly is far from radical - much to the annoyance of more  radical folk.

A representative body would reflect the views of their constituents and would include conservative, progressive and radical voices.

Yes, it seems so.

But on the fringe there are some real whack jobs and they are chipping around the edges!

A great example are flags.

There was outrage that local councils had to pay to fly the Indigenous flag, then the Feds fixed that problem and the Indigenous flag was flying freely at locations all over the state.               But wait, there's more!                   All of a sudden councils had to fly the "Local Tribe's Indigenous Flag" or else it is disrespectful, apparently not everyone thinks the Indigenous flag is their flag, did you even know Local Indigenous Tribes had a flag, and if so when did they come into existence?

You guessed it, there is a fee for flying the Local Tribe's Indigenous Flag, who would have thunk it!

You can't just invent a flag and have it flown on public buildings.  I have never heard of any local council being asked to fly a "local Aboriginal community flag" and they wouldn't be permitted to do so if they were.

I never claimed State or Fed buildings were doing this, I was specific in referring to Councils, Local Councils are not constrained by the same regulations if it isn't banned like the Swastika they can fly it and will be invoiced accordingly!

There are two Vic councils were this is happening right now, today, at least while the wind isn't too brisk! Further, there are councils that have been invoiced for Tribal Flags flying over sacred spaces, spaces that the council allocated public land for such a purpose identifying it with a Tribal and Indigenous flag. The land was reserved / gifted effectively for free, in one case there was a gold coin exchange to make it legal, but the council pays to fly the flag, it's a scam!

Sure, they cant be trusted politically, but they are a trading partner, last I checked the majority of space junk has been generated by none other than the USA or Russia (pick 1 it would be more accurate) and the Indian Ocean near Malaysia is a far cry from Jindabyne in NSW.