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<\/p>\n <\/span>Credit: <\/span>Illustration: Andrew Dyson<\/cite><\/p>\n To submit a letter to The Age<\/em>, email letters@theage.com.au. Please include your home address and telephone number below your letter. No attachments. See here for our rules and tips on getting your letter published.<\/strong><\/p>\n Several years ago I made my third journey to the Kimberley, in a four-wheel-drive truck with an Aboriginal guide at the wheel. With six passengers, all women friends, we were taken into breathtaking places, met people, saw wonders that left us speechless. I nag people planning holidays to go to the far north, meet the people, see their culture and hear their stories. The defining moment for me was standing halfway up yet another escarpment, hands on hips, thinking \u201cI\u2019m too old for this\u201d, when a young local Aboriginal guide came dashing across the rocks above me, leaned down and extended his hand to help me up. When I\u2019d made it we both laughed and to this day, I remember his hand in mine \u2013 the colour, the texture and the grace with which he extended it to help me. We went to vote early for the referendum. I was surprised when I reacted negatively to the women trying to hand me a how to vote No card \u2013 not verbally, but I refused the card. It made me wonder why I reacted this way because everyone has the right to make their mind up about the Voice. I think I did so because I have been upset about the No campaign\u2019s use of disinformation, racism and fear for political ends. We have seen too much of this type of politics in America, and it is sad to see it used here on an issue where all Australians should want to see improvement. A Yes vote opens up a path to end the culture wars that have plagued our nation for too long. The proposal offers a modern vision of Australia \u2013 embodying deep respect for the oldest living civilisation on the planet and our Westminster parliamentary system. The Voice signals a way for us to resolve the pitting of Western traditions against Indigenous history and culture. We can have our cake and eat it too. A popular consensus for change would reshape the conversation about our national story forever. No matter which way we vote, some First Nations people will not be supported. Vote Yes and those First Nations people who believe that the establishment of an advisory body to Parliament (\u201ca Voice\u201d) being enshrined in the Constitution focuses on division, are not supported. Vote No and those First Nations people who believe that the establishment of a Voice is the best way forward are not supported. It is hard to vote on an issue where the very people the issue relates to are not in agreement. When voting in the referendum, remember that the First Nations people are just asking that we listen to them. If our response is, \u201cNah, nick off\u201d, what does that say about us and the so-called Australian fair go? Poor Fellow My Country. Are we a nation of racists or of nervous nellies? Probably not racists \u2013 after all, 65 per cent of us told the pollsters we\u2019d vote yes when this referendum was first mooted. Hence the prime minister could reasonably have expected this proposal to sail through, as did the 1967 referendum. He didn\u2019t bank on the Liberal Party, stripped of its moderate wing by Teal independents, seizing the opportunity to dent Albanese\u2019s good intentions and to campaign against the referendum by spreading doubts \u2013 about details which could only be worked out after a Yes vote, by parliamentarians in consultation, we\u2019d have hoped, with our First Nations. Social media seems to be generating a new public ethos, fatally gullible to any conspiracy theory, ready to stop vaccinating children despite decades of medical evidence, ready to vote down a constitutional amendment to give a Voice to our First Peoples and take a step towards the reconciliation most of us want. The Age<\/em> editorial (\u201cVote Yes to honour our nation\u2019s promise\u201d, 13\/10) argued that voting Yes is \u201cdoing something\u201d and that voting No is a vote for inertia or worse. Both claims are non-sequiturs. Voting Yes may prove futile in terms of Closing the Gap, and furthermore may prove the choice of believers in armchair kindness. Yes is the \u201cset and forget\u201d option. The Age<\/em> claims too much. Conversely, those who vote no may prove to have a firmer grasp on what it takes to achieve positive change. Thank you for so adroitly reminding readers of the tenet \u2013 the main purpose \u2013 of today\u2019s referendum. In her poignant words, Yanyuwa woman Senator Malarndirri McCarthy pleads that voters \u201clisten with your heart\u2026and give dignity to those who ask to be listened to\u201d. And today, that is the very least we can do. The plight and welfare of First Nation peoples has been of little concern to the average Australian for decades. Those same Australians are now asked to vote to give Indigenous Australians a Voice in the Australian Constitution. However, some Australians have become concerned having listened to leaders of the No campaign: Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, Peter Dutton, Warren Mundine, and Lidia Thorpe. These advocates seem primarily concerned with thwarting the Labor Party. How tragic that such a deliberate attempt to divide us could be successful. I used to think that equality was about treating all people the same, but in my first year of teaching, I realised that to achieve equal outcomes for all, each person needed to be treated according to their needs. Because of the way First Nations people have been mistreated in the past, their needs are far greater than most of ours, as evidenced in the Closing the Gap report. To those well-meaning correspondents who think that the 1967 referendum gave constitutional recognition to Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders: it didn\u2019t. The 1967 referendum repealed section 127, which included the following statement: \u201cIn reckoning the numbers of the people of the Commonwealth, or of a State or other part of the Commonwealth, aboriginal natives shall not be counted.\u201d The 1967 referendum put nothing in place of that racist exclusion. As a result, our Constitution contains literally no reference to or mention of our Indigenous brothers and sisters. That is why they need and deserve the recognition accorded by a constitutionally enshrined Voice. Regardless of how this weekend\u2019s Voice referendum unfolds, there are several unassailable truths within Terra Australis that will assuredly hold fast. First, out of the world\u2019s 230-odd independent nations, Australia will still remain an enviable destination in which to live. Second, our three civil pillars of an Indigenous heritage, British foundations and a modern-day multicultural character will be sturdy enough to withstand the inevitable public swell of both elation and disappointment that will surely surge once the results are tallied. Third, in our current tremulous geopolitical climate, the wider world won\u2019t pay much attention to our domestic affairs. Fourth, and most significantly, the opportunities and agency that currently exist for every Australian \u2013 including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders \u2013 to improve their lives will continue. What matters in determining one\u2019s days to come is not yet more administration but aspiration. At a casual dinner in the early days of meeting my Australian, non-Jewish (future) husband, he turned to me and asked \u201cWhat does it feel like being part of a minority group?\u201d I met his question with bewilderment. In 1988, that question was laughable. But in October 2023, I know only too well how it feels to hear marching protesters and young people chant \u201cgas the Jews, kill the Jews\u201d when they are looking at me\u2026 born and bred in Melbourne, child of Holocaust survivors, vehement opponent of the Occupation to the extent that I have refused to set foot in Israel since 2011. I support Palestinian self-determination. I consider the occupation immoral and illegal. Yet, today, I have to bring a change of casual clothes for my grandchildren lest their uniform mark them out as Jews when we go for afternoon tea after school. I am not a historian and do not in any way condone the recent actions of Hamas. However, the current situation seems to me very similar to that of the French Revolution and the overthrow of the Russian Tsars. If a large group of people are oppressed for a long time and all their basic needs are determined by those who hold power over them, some of them will eventually rise and revolt. Hamas unleashes hell on Israeli citizens in sadistic and barbarically depraved slaughter, and thereby unleashes a retaliatory hell on the Palestinians of Gaza. What will it take for Gazans and Palestinian supporters to recognise that Hamas is not only Israel\u2019s deadly enemy, but also that of the very Palestinian people Hamas claims to fight for? Without the likes of Hamas, there may be a possibility for Palestinians and Jews to find a way to share the land that both have a right to call home. I imagine it was with no sense of irony or self awareness that Peter Dutton said \u201cPeople with that hate in their minds and their heart don\u2019t have any place in our society\u201d. Dutton is right on one count. However, on everything else about the Gaza protests, he is dead wrong, 13\/10). In this instance, he was referring to protesters, but perhaps he should have looked in the mirror before making such a statement. My parents, neither Jewish nor Palestinian, grew up and loved British Palestine. When they left 75 years ago, they told us conflict between these groups was escalating. Benjamin Netanyahu now promises to kill every Hamas member. This will only stoke unprecedented hatred and ensure another 75 years of conflict with whatever terrorists replace Hamas. <\/p>\n <\/span>Credit: <\/span>Illustration: Matt Golding<\/cite><\/p>\n I fear that today my democracy sausage will be replaced by a humanity denying snag. Compulsory voting assumes that everyone has an opinion. The referendum has demonstrated that this assumption is too idealistic for reality. Two questions to ponder while you queue to vote\u2026 If you vote No will Aboriginal Australians\u2019 lives be improved? Or if you vote Yes will non-Aboriginal Australians\u2019 lives be worse? Oh the irony. The front page of Friday\u2019s Age<\/em>: at the top, the clear and logical editorial arguing for a Yes vote (\u201cVote Yes to honour nations promise\u201d); at the bottom, the illogical musings of Ralph Babet (funded by Clive Palmer). On this final day of judgment on the referendum I will vote for respect and dignity. I will not suffer if the Yes vote is carried. I have nothing to be afraid of. I choose hope. It\u2019s pronounced Aus-tra-lians, not Aus-trains, Albo. With all the wars and conflicts raging around the world one thing is patently clear, no one adheres to the Geneva Convention.REFERENDUM<\/h3>\n
Defining moment<\/b><\/h3>\n
Gabrielle Gardner, Montmorency<\/b><\/p>\nFeelings about No voters<\/b><\/h3>\n
Jane Cheong, Aspendale Gardens<\/b><\/p>\nEnd the culture wars<\/b><\/h3>\n
Kirk Weeden, Frankston<\/b><\/p>\nIndigenous not unanimous<\/h3>\n
Wendi Kruger, Croydon South<\/strong><\/p>\nFair go<\/h3>\n
Sue Peterken, Berwick<\/strong><\/p>\nTHE FORUM<\/h3>\n
A new public ethos<\/h3>\n
Rosemary West, Edithvale<\/strong><\/p>\nNon-sequitur<\/h3>\n
Alun Breward, Malvern East<\/strong><\/p>\nUse your heart<\/h3>\n
Sally Davis, Malvern East<\/strong><\/p>\nMajority voting on the minority<\/h3>\n
Chris Burgess, Port Melbourne<\/strong><\/p>\nAffirmative action<\/h3>\n
Janette Fernando, Woori Yallock<\/strong><\/p>\nConstitutional recognition<\/h3>\n
Nick Eckstein, Kangaroo Ground<\/strong><\/p>\nLand of opportunity<\/h3>\n
Peter Waterhouse, Craigieburn<\/strong><\/p>\nAnti-semitism<\/h3>\n
Name withheld on request<\/strong><\/p>\nOppressed<\/h3>\n
Jenny Callaghan, Hawthorn<\/strong><\/p>\nDeadly enemy<\/h3>\n
Deborah Morrison, Malvern East<\/strong><\/p>\nMirror image?<\/h3>\n
Ross Hudson, Mount Martha<\/strong><\/p>\nFanning the flames<\/h3>\n
Ralph Frank, Malvern East<\/strong><\/p>\nAND ANOTHER THING
<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
Referendum<\/b><\/strong><\/h3>\n
Jon Smith, Leongatha<\/strong><\/p>\n
Kevan Porter, Alphington<\/strong><\/p>\n
Craig Molyneux, Geelong West<\/strong><\/p>\n
Maryanne Barclay, Frankston South<\/strong><\/p>\n
Judy Hungerford, Kew<\/strong><\/p>\nFurthermore<\/h3>\n
David Cayzer, Clifton Hill<\/strong><\/p>\n
David Eames-Mayer, Balwyn<\/strong><\/p>\n