“We invite you to walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future.” - Uluru Statement From the Heart 2017
In 1967 the Referendum, brought about change by counting First Nations as among the numbers of the population.
Now it’s time that they are heard.
The Referendum on the 14th of October 2023 will ask one question:
“A Proposed Law: to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.
Do you approve this proposed alteration?”
The proposed law will insert the following in the Constitution:
Chapter IX Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples
S 129 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice
In recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Peoples of Australia:
There shall be a body, to be called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice;
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice may make representations to the Parliament and the Executive Government of the Commonwealth on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples;
The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws with respect to matters relating to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, including its composition, functions, powers and procedures.
Arab Council Australia endorses a YES vote and wholeheartedly accepts the invitation issued in the Uluru Statement from the Heart to walk with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for a better future and we support a First Nations Voice to Parliament with constitutional recognition.
Arab Council Australia’s engagement with First Nations started a long time ago and more formally, in June 1998, when we held a large event to launch a new journey of our renowned Arab Carnivale at which we offered a public Apology to First Nations people – and we were one of, if not the first organisation to do so.
On behalf of the many Australians of Arab background who wish to do so, and we know they are many; we would like to offer our apology, and express our sorrow, to the Aboriginal people of Australia.
In Arabic there is a difference between two words that express being sorry; to offer an I’tizar means to apologise to someone for a wrong doing that one has actually committed against them. To offer one’s ‘Asaf’ on the other hand, means to express sorrow, or better still, solidarity, with someone because of a mishap that has affected them. Australians of Arab background on behalf of whom we speak, would like to say sorry in both senses of the term. They wish to express their sorrow and their solidarity with the Aboriginal people over the many past injustice they have had to endure even when there were hardly any Arabs in Australia. But they also wish to apologise for what they see as their own contribution in perpetrating this injustice. Above all, they wish to apologise for ignoring the presence of the Aboriginal people and their wishes when migrating to Australia. To put it plainly, we are sorry for having come to this country without asking you, the traditional owners of this land, first. We come from a culture that values honourable behaviour to the highest degree, and we feel that our presence in Australia cannot be honourable without this genuinely felt apology.
We would like to give more substance to this apology by committing ourselves to lobby the Australian government so that an acknowledgment of the Aboriginal people becomes part of the citizenship oath. This way, all new Australian citizens will be invited to become conscious, from the start they are becoming citizens of a land which was previously owned by the Aboriginal people, with all the responsibilities towards mending the injuries of the past that such a citizenship entails.
Council has continued to actively engage, build relationships and work on the ground with Indigenous communities. We worked together on a number of campaigns, namely, lobbying together to stop changes that threatened to water down the Racial Discrimination Act and rallying and opposing the introduction of the discriminatory policy in the form of Income management.
Arab Council Australia wholeheartedly accepts the invitation issued in the Uluru Statement from the Heart to walk with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for a better future and we support a First Nations Voice to Parliament with constitutional recognition.
We believe it is now time for us to publicly record our support of the ‘Yes’ campaign for a constitutionally enshrined Voice to Parliament.
A yes to the Uluru Statement and to the Voice to Parliament is a unique opportunity for a historical leap forward for Australia.
RESOURCES
The Referendum Fact Sheet in English
The Referendum Fact Sheet in Arabic
The Voice Community Toolkit in English
The Voice Community Toolkit in Arabic
The Voice Referendum SBS resources in Arabic
Uluru Statement in Arabic audio