Wathaurong to vote yes

ON Saturday, October 14, all Australians have a very important decision to make as they head to the polls to decide if they want to say “yes” to altering the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.

The Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-operative is encouraging everyone in the community to be informed to make their own choice, and to have respect for different viewpoints and opinions from their own.

In May 2023, after many months of consultation with the local community, the Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-operative Board came out in support of the “yes” position on the Voice to Parliament Referendum.

The board believes the Voice to Parliament will give Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Communities a say in the policies that affect First Nations people in their daily lives.

At a recent event in Geelong alongside Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney, Wathaurong chief executive officer Simon Flagg explained further.

“I feel like I’m very unique – I’ve worked on both sides, I’ve worked in government for 20 years, from junior position to a fairly high director position. And now I’ve worked for three years in a community organisation,” he said.

“How would the Voice impact on us? It would mean I would stop having to fight with government departments around what they think would work best for our community.

“We get consulted currently – but where we get consulted is at the very low level.

“By the time it makes it’s way up the stream to the decision makers, the voice and the context we’ve given is watered down, changed and adapted to what they think we need.

“And then we are asked to implement those programs, which a lot of times we disagree with. And we have to change our model to achieve those.”

The Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-operative says an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament would mean that consultation on policies, issues and funding programs that directly affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people would happen at the very top level and allow the co-operative to implement programs that will benefit our people to bring real change and improvement.

To help everyone make an informed decision on this important Referendum, Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-operative is hosting fortnightly information sessions at the Co-op in Morgan Street, North Geelong, where anyone is welcome to attend, to listen, to learn and to ask questions to gain a better understanding of what the Voice means for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander people in our region.

Wathaurong community member and director Aunty Wendy Brabham, who is a member of the National Referedum Engagement Group, will share information on the Voice.

For more information, head to wathaurong.org.au/voicetoparliament