Why have we made this guide?
In addition to supporting the teaching and research needs of the university, the Library’s role in the community is to:
We were inspired by the Looking Ahead Indigenous Voice to Parliament lecture to create a balanced, useful resource which empowers people make up their own minds on the Voice by linking out to reliable content that provides different perspectives on the Voice.
Our goal is to support everyone to make informed and respectful contributions to the discussion about the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament, regardless of their position on the Voice.
Looking Ahead Indigenous Voice to Parliament Livestream
Livestream Highlights
'The Uluru Statement From the Heart is really what brought the voice to the forefront in recent memory, and what it showed was that when you have proper meaningful conversations with First Nations people about what it means for them to be meaningfully recognised in the Constitution, what people wanted was a voice and something that would have substantive change on the ground.'
- Alumni Kishaya Delaney
Livestream Highlights
'Ask, be informed and make your choice and exercise that as a responsibility. Don't just vote yes or no out of fear, don't just vote yes or no out of 'I don't know’. Vote out of taking the time to develop a position.'
- Ms Kathleen Butler, Deputy Head of the Wollotuka Institute
Livestream Highlights
'Votes are very personal and they’re very important, and if it’s in your heart to vote one way you should follow that, but you shouldn’t allow anybody to tell you otherwise – because that’s one of the things that we’ve been talking about here tonight: not just about misinformation, but about the refusal to listen, the failure to hear, the lack of desire to understand the issue.'
- Dr. Ray Kelly
Livestream Highlights
'What is critically important in history understanding is that the call for a Voice to Parliament is not a new initiative. Aboriginal activists nearly 100 years ago first called for a Voice to Parliament as part of their political platform and demands during the 1920s.'
- Emeritus Professor John Maynard
Livestream Highlights
'I was just going to add one thing, and it related to what Kishaya said around listening to the debate and hearing mixed messages and different people's opinions and it made me reflect on something that Professor Megan Davis said at the UA Conference. She said that when all that happens, go back to the principle of what we're actually voting on: should Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have a say on the laws and the policies that impact them? As soon as people want to talk about the detail and say that hasn't been decided - well, that will evolve and change. And hopefully we'll make that more effective and we'll continue to work on it. But at the end of the day, that's the principle-based decision that we're voting on, and we shouldn't lose sight of that.'
- Nathan Towney