The Voice will sink Australia to be ruled by two powers: the Voice and the Commonwealth

It is about land and water rights, treaties and reparations, a fact which many leaders have made no attempts to hide.

Indigenous Senator Lidia Thorpe, speaking at the National Press Club gave Australian a glimpse of what could be at stake suggesting Australia does not have enough money to compensate.

"A lot of money [is] owed to First peoples. Look at the resources that have been extracted over 200 years ... It would make the country broke. That's why we need to negotiate,"she said.

To understand the issue completely let us look at the Uluru Statement, just the one-page summary, to avoid any unnecessary argument.

For ease of understanding we divide it in two parts – Part 1 claims in the top two paragraphs and objectives – Part 2 - in the penultimate paragraphs

ULURU STATEMENT FROM THE HEART

Relevantly the first two paragraphs read:

…Our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tribes were the first sovereign Nations of the Australian continent and its adjacent islands, and possessed it under our own laws and customs. This our ancestors did, according to the reckoning of our culture, from the Creation, according to the common law from ‘time immemorial’, and according to science more than 60,000 years ago.

This sovereignty is a spiritual notion: the ancestral tie between the land, or ‘mother nature’, and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who were born therefrom, remain attached thereto, and must one day return thither to be united with our ancestors. This link is the basis of the ownership of the soil, or better, of sovereignty. It has never been ceded or extinguished, and co-exists with the sovereignty of the Crown.…

If you look at the construction of the above two paragraphs, it is hardly about recognition; it is all about claiming ownership of the Australian continent and its adjacent islands.

If you are wondering how a noble idea of recognising our Indigenous people in the constitution turned into what seems to be a full-fledged legit claim of ownership of the whole continent and adjacent island, you need to look at the 1992 Mabo decision of the High Court of Australia.

In that case, the High Court by a majority of 6-1 accepted the ongoing relationship of the Indigenous people (Meriam people of Murray Islands) and thus found they were entitled, to the possession, use, occupation, and enjoyment of (most of) the land of the Murray Islands.

The decision opened the way for Indigenous peoples around Australia to claim any lands and waters as theirs.