WITH voting already under way and Saturday being the final day for Yes or No votes to be cast in the Voice to Parliament referendum, four Mornington Peninsula Shire councillors have publicly stated their views. Just four of the shire’s 11 councillors issued a declaration stating they will vote Yes, although all of their colleagues were given the opportunity to add their name in support of the Voice. The four councillors – Despi O’Connor, Sarah Race, Simon Brooks and David Gill – are urging ratepayers to follow their lead and also vote Yes. A statement issued by the four councillors…
Browsing: The Voice
MEMBERS of the Progressives of the Peninsula group have launched their Just Ask campaign as a way to “engage the disengaged, the undecideds and the No voters” before the 14 October Voice to Parliament referendum. “Our democracy relies on informed voters. Rather than push a Yes or No position, we merely provide people with information,” the group’s chair Dr Sarah Russell said after the campaign launch outside Dromana Community Market on 23 September. Members of the Progressives display If You Don’t Know, Ask Here signs and wear If You Don’t Know, Just Ask t-shirts. “Although I believe informed and compassionate…
A PROMINENT Liberal Party leader and the CEO of the Hastings-based Willum Warrain Aboriginal Association joined forces last week in urging a Yes vote in next month’s Voice to Parliament referendum. Former Liberal ACT Chief Minister, Kate Carnell AO, said it was “a very Liberal thing to do, to vote Yes on 14 October”. Willum Warrain Aboriginal Association CEO Peter Aldenhoven said the referendum offered “hope, change, opportunity and possibility”. Carnell and Aldenhoven spoke at the second Voice public forum held at Rosebud by the Southern Women’s Action Network (SWAN). SWAN member Judith Graley said all speakers at the forum…
By Liz Bell and Keith Platt MOST Mornington Peninsula Shire Councillors are remaining tight lipped about how they will vote in the upcoming Voice referendum. At the 5 September council meeting, around 30 local residents, including two indigenous elders, called on the council to support three questions given without notice – one from Marg D’Arcy and two from former Voices of Mornington Peninsula-backed independent candidate for the seat of Flinders Dr Sarah Russell. However, Russell said the CEO’s response was “dismissive” and similar to what a “spokesperson” from the council said to an ABC journalist. Russell said the residents had…
ORGANISERS of a walk for the Voice to Parliament are inviting people to join the event to support the Yes vote and learn about the 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart. One of the volunteers, Madeleine Machin, said the walk organised by the Mornington Peninsula Yes 23 campaign would show participants’ “solidarity” and support for the Voice to Parliament. The walk will be on 17 September starting at Safety Beach foreshore, opposite Prescott Avenue, at 1pm. Machin said there would be shorter walks at various points, including Dromana (2pm), Anthony’s Nose ( 2.30pm) and McCrae (3pm). The walk will finish…
RAIN did not deter an intergenerational volunteer team from its door-knocking campaign to rally support for the upcoming referendum on an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. “I might have over 50 years on these two young volunteers, but I was the one on the learning end,” retiree Maureen Donelly, of Mornington, said after the Saturday 12 August effort. “I was truly inspired by their passion and commitment to a just future. “Back in our day, we learnt nothing about the history of injustices against the First Peoples, just that Captain Cook claimed an uninhabited land. “I think if all people my…
THE leaders of 15 churches are urging “the Mornington Peninsula community” to “carefully listen” to the stories of First Peoples’ leaders in the lead-up to the referendum for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. In a signed “open letter” the church leaders describe the “paradoxical relationship” the Christian church has had with Australia’s First Peoples since the arrival of white settlers in 1788. Some churches had good intentions while others “shared the values of the emerging colonial society, including paternalism and racism”. The letter does not advocate a Yes or No vote and its signatories acknowledge that they do not represent…
A PRO-Voice to Parliament event later this month at Flinders Hotel sold out in four days so organisers have added a second session. Voice to Parliament: A Discussion will be held from 11am-1pm Sunday 30 July after the sellout session on the Saturday. Speakers at both sessions will be Professor Dr Marcia Langton AO, Rachel Perkins and Tony Nutt AO. They will speak for about one hour all-up before taking questions from the audience for about 30 minutes. Co-organisers are peninsula-based arts producer Sally Baillieu and Julie Kantor, founding director of Annamila First Nations Foundation, set up to foster “a…
MP for Dunkley Peta Murphy is urging anyone who wants clarification on the upcoming referendum on Indigenous Voice to Parliament to attend her community meetings in Mount Eliza. Federal parliament passed the Constitution Alteration Bill on Monday 19 June, meaning the referendum question and proposed amendment to the Constitution are now set. The passage of the Bill means the referendum can be held by the end of the year. But Murphy said there was still some confusion about what the Voice means, with many people not aware of the details of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, a 2017 petition…
THE Southern Women’s Action Network (SWAN) is holding a public forum to counter “misinformation” about the upcoming Voice to Parliament referendum. What is the VOICE referendum? – A Community discussion will be held from 7pm on Thursday 20 July at Mount Eliza Community Hall. Guest speaker will be lawyer, writer and commentator Teela Reid, a Wiradjuri and Wailwan woman. “We hope people will come along to this public forum and hear the facts then make up their own minds about this important referendum,” SWAN Facilitator Erica Churchill said. She said Reid would focus on “properly informing people, irrespective of whether…
HUNDREDS attended Sunday’s annual Reconciliation Walk run by the Willum Warrain Aboriginal Association at Hastings. The walk and celebrations that followed at the Pound Road gathering place followed this year’s theme: Be a Voice for Generations. The welcome to country was conducted by Bunurong Land Council’s Mark Brown followed by speeches from Willum Warrain president Jeanette Kaindel, Hastings MP Paul Mercurio, Mornington Peninsula Shire’s deputy mayor Cr Debra Mar and Willum Warrain CEO Peter Aldenhoven. “After the formalities were over we were entertained by Djalu dancers featuring Ganga Giri and our good friends from Mullum Mullum who come every year,…
WILLUM Warrain Aboriginal Association CEO Peter Aldenhoven (pictured) is guest speaker at The Case for Yes – An afternoon of listening about the proposed national referendum, 2-4pm on Sunday 2 July at St Mark’s Uniting Church, 50 Barkly St, Mornington. The Uniting for the Voice event has been organised by St Mark’s Social Justice Network. Convenor David Price said the Rev Joy Blamires would chair the event and audience members can ask questions. It is free of change, but donations are welcome. Details: David Price, 0418 752 093 or by email. First published in the Mornington News – 6th June…
By Zoe McKenzie, MP for Flinders THERE are times when something very special happens in the Australian Parliament, when a debate makes us look carefully and critically at ourselves and the society in which we live. This parliamentary sitting fortnight’s focus on the Indigenous Voice to Parliament has been one of those moments. I have seen parliamentarians of all backgrounds bring their best selves, their love of our country, their sense of responsibility and their reflection of their communities, to the debate – for all to hear and see. If you have time, read Hansard. You will not be disappointed…
By Peter Aldenhoven, CEO Willum Warrain Gathering Place THE 1967 referendum produced the highest ever Yes vote in support of including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples on the census for the first time. Up until then, the Australian government had a clearer idea of how many sheep were in the country than Aboriginal people. It was a heady achievement. Australian people voted to right a great wrong; they voted for fairness and justice for First Australians. The best version of ourselves as a nation rose to the fore. Together, we can do this again in 2023. We can make…