Which Voice Does Australia Need?

The Albanese Australian government is calling for an Indigenous 'One Voice' as a direct response to 'Uluru Statement from the heart' of 2017 at the National Constitutional Convention. 

Although I understand that our Australian Indigenous Australians would prefer to call themselves Australian Aboriginals.

I am split on the notion we need one voice for a few reasons, as I'll explain.

White history says Captain James Cook discovered Australia firstly at Inscription Point, Botany Bay on the 20th April 1770

The Uluru Dialogue represents the cultural authority of the Uluru Statement from the Heart and leads community education on the Uluru Statement’s reforms of Voice, Treaty, and Truth. The Uluru Dialogue is based at the Indigenous Law Centre, UNSW Sydney.

Right, so thinking about this take me back to way before I was born and way before the nation was discovered by Captain James Cook. Why?  Simply we need to look at how Australia became Australia through early history.

I know it is a theory, but looking at the 'Continental Drift' by Geologists or 'Plate Tectonics' by scientists seems to make all nations connected at some earlier point in time and split into different continents, as we know them. Click here for details from Nation Geographic

So, does that make us all interrelated somehow? If you agree we are interrelated, my thing here is we are originally from one landmass. Which there means that white colonial people didn't discover 'Australia'. It would have been just stepping foot on land that was previously all connected into one land mass, that over time separated.

This brings the question then of whether we still have the 195 countries that the United Nations recognises (not including Taiwan, Cook Islands, and Niue) Check here for details Or remain as one previously connected nation.

If you check the outline of the southern Australian coast indicates that we were once connected to Antarctica. Following that the western coast of Australia was connected to the Indian Continent. Lastly, New Zealand was connected to the east coast of Australia. A lot of Australians and New Zealanders may be happy with that prediction of previously being connected as one greater landmass as some people would like New Zealand to be Australia's eighth State or Territory.

Anyway, going back to the one voice that the new Australian Government is seeking, is it really required. The one voice required is from our Indigenous people, (I believe they would prefer to be called 'Aboriginals') how much of a say will that voice as a power be included in our Parliamentary Government? 

Currently, in our Australian Parliament which includes the Upper and Lower Houses, we have 10 Members of Parliament that identify themselves as Indigenous or have Indigenous heritage. Click here for details

Here they are:

• Pat Dodson (Labour) Senator - Western Australia
• Linda Burney (Labour) House - Barton
• Mallamdirri McCarthy (Labour) Senator - Northern Territory
• Lidia Thorpe (Independent) Senator - Victoria
• Dorinda Cox (Greens) Senator - Western Australia
• Jana Stewart (Labour) Senator - Victoria
• Jacinta Nampijinpa Price (National) Senate- Northern Territory
• Gordon Reid (Labour) House - Robertson
• Kerrynne Liddle (Liberal) Senate - South Australia 
• Jacqui Lambie (JLN) Senate - Tasmania

Based on The Australian Bureau of statistics of 2021, Our Indigenous population was 881,600 Click here for details

Compare it to Australia's total population of 25,690,000,  our Indigenous population represents approximately just over 3.35% of our current population (2021) Click here for details

Here we have a  combined total from our Upper and Lower Houses of Parliament 227 members. So with 10 members indicating their Indigenous history the representation in The Australian Parliament is over 4.5%. I've always said since Sir Neville Bonner was elected to the Australian Parliament.

My point is, how many Aboriginal voices do we need?  Although, I am for aboriginal people to be represented in our Australian Parliament. To me they are. And in time, there could be more Aboriginals elected into Parliament in the future as more of them see, this is where their voices are counted and can remain prominent. What do you think?

On the funny side, I always thought 'The Voice' was Johnny Farnham always singing 'You're the voice', released as a single (B side was Going, Going, Gone), and his 'Whispering Jack' album in 1986

Click here to listen to the song

Credits:

• Ulurustatement.org website
  
• Wikpedia
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