Why I am voting Yes
Voting Yes for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament is true value of respect, to recognise the world's oldest continuing culture in our Constitution.
On October 14th, we are not being asked to vote for a political party, or an group of politician. We're being asked to vote for recognition, Listening , equal say and bring our country together and to change it for the better by delivering better outcomes for First Nations people.
Constitutions are documents written in a particular time and place. They require updates, edits and changes in order to remain relevant to the people they serve and the societies they underpin.
The Voice to Parliament will recognise Indigenous people in the way they want to be recognised in the Constitution.
The 2023 Yes proposition is a simple one. Yes, is to recognise First Peoples in the Constitution and establish an advisory body to parliament. It is that simple.
Yes, keeps our Constitution relevant, enhances our democracy and reaffirms its relevance to the people it is meant to serve. It would demonstrate we are a caring and compassionate country that cares for the wellbeing of all people, including First Peoples.
It is a simple and modest proposal that none of us need to fear. And as a nation, there is everything to gain.
It is simple and it is the right thing to do. Vote Yes.
Cr Karl Saleh, Canterbury Bankstown City Council
The Voice will make a difference
The Salvation Army is one of the biggest providers of social services in Australia. We are a pragmatic movement, not really into empty gestures or performative virtue signalling. I don't think in our 140-year history in Australia that we have ever been called "elites".
But we do support the Voice.
We support the Voice, simply, because we believe it will make a difference.
For 140 years, the Salvos have rolled up their sleeves and helped where we can. We started small by assisting discharged prisoners at the prison gates in Melbourne and now we provide over 2,000 services across every state and territory in Australia. We support people experiencing homelessness, family and domestic violence, financial hardship, unemployment, substance use disorders, social isolation and loneliness, and help them recover from natural disasters.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are over-represented in almost every service we deliver - and that's why we support a Voice.
There is no escaping the fact that what we are doing right now, as a nation, is not working.
The Salvos will always do what we can on the ground, but the issues we see are deeper; they are structural and systemic. We believe the only way to practically address the hardship experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is to change how the government makes and carries out policy. We believe the best way to do that is to actually listen to the people affected - to give them a voice.
Not everyone agrees with us on this and that's okay. We just ask that people respectfully consider, before they decide on October 14: "Will the Voice make a difference for people who really need help?"
We think the answer is a resounding yes.
Captain Stuart Glover, The Salvation Army Australia
