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

recognisingthat the first inhabitants of Australia were Indigenous people;

acknowledgingtheir continuing relationship with their traditional lands and waters;

respectingthe continuing cultures, languages, and heritage of Indigenous people; and

acknowledgingthe need to secure their advancement.

These recommendations were incorporated in full in the self-repealing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Recognition Act 2013 enacted by the Gillard government.

Section 3(2) of the Act read:

The Parliament, on behalf of the people of Australia, acknowledges the continuing relationship of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples with their traditional lands and waters.

In my view neither the Expert Panel led by Pat Dodson nor the Gillard government had the appropriate authority of the court as conceived under the Native Titles Act 1993, in the case of expert panel to recommend and in the case of the government, to commit the Australian people to accept the ongoing and continuous relationships of the Indigenous people with the whole of the Australian continent’s lands and waters.

That under the 1993 Act would only be a court’s domain, which would examine the evidence and decide the issue conclusively.

Our politicians need to understand enacting a legal statute and chanting a ‘welcome to country’ are two different things.

And now to Part 2 of the Uluru Statement

ULURU STATEMENT FROM THE HEART

Looking at the latter part of the Page 1 statement, we find the Uluru statement – talking about empowerment of their people, their ‘rightful place’ in their ‘own’ country. “

We call for the establishment of a First Nations Voice enshrined in the Constitution.

When we have power over our destiny our children will flourish. They will walk in two worlds and their culture will be a gift to their country.

Makarrata is the culmination of our agenda: the coming together after a struggle. It captures our aspirations for a fair and truthful relationship with the people of Australia and a better future for our children based on justice and self-determination.

We seek a Makarrata Commission to supervise a process of agreement-making between governments and First Nations and truth-telling about our history.

It is evident the Yes camp would like the Voice as the parliamentary body, to have unfettered power to make representations regarding every statute, law, rule and regulation in relation to Indigenous Australians as opposed to accepting the supremacy of the Parliament of Australia to make laws for all Australians, including Indigenous people.