Respect

As Patrick Dodson has written, our nation will soon be tested as to whether we believe in a fair go for our Frist Australians. Each one of us is being asked whether we support a voice being enshrined in the Constitution for those who have a unique connection to this country we all share. It saddens me that anyone would reject such a modest and simple request, the result of the culmination of years of dialogue by Indigenous people, and the consensus of 250 Aboriginal leaders from across our land.

As the Uluru Statement from the Heart so eloquently says,

‘Proportionally, we are the most incarcerated people on the planet. We are not an innately criminal people. Our children are alienated from their families at unprecedented rates. This cannot be because we have no love for them. And our youth languish in detention in obscene numbers. They should be our hope for the future.

These dimensions of our crisis tell us plainly the structural nature of our problems. This is the torment of our powerlessness.

We seek constitutional reforms to empower our people and take a rightful place in our own country. When we have power over our destiny, our children will flourish. They will walk in two worlds and their culture will be a gift to their country.’

My own work taught me that successive, well-meaning people and governments have sought to close the gaps in life expectancy, child mortality, and education. I was one of these well-meaning people. But when I examined the evidence for what works to improve health outcomes, I found that the evidence is that the solutions needed to come from the Aboriginal people themselves.

Joe Biden said in his inauguration speech, talking about his country:

‘It’s a time of testing. We face an attack on our democracy, and on truth, a raging virus, a stinging inequity, systemic racism, a climate in crisis, America’s role in the world. Any one of these would be enough to challenge us in profound ways. But the fact is we face them all at once, presenting this nation with one of the greatest responsibilities we’ve had. Now we’re going to be tested. Are we going to step up?’

For us in Australia, right now, we are also facing multiple enormous challenges that are testing us. I think they are climate change, Indigenous recognition, refugee rights, inter-generational equity, powerful lobby groups, the erosion of a respect for facts and knowledge and the rise of misinformation, and the cost of living that is simply unaffordable to many. These big issues are intertwined. For example I can understand how someone struggling to make ends meet might feel irked by attention being spent on an issue that seems to have no relevance to them, while their needs seem to be ignored. Intergenerational inequity has contributed to their situation in many cases. Aboriginal stewardship of the land has already shown how an Indigenous voice to Parliament will strengthen appropriate and effective approaches to combat climate change. Powerful lobby groups have blocked effective action on climate change, just as they are working against the recognition being sought by First Nations communities through the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

The thread through each of these big issues is respect: for people, for human rights, and for fairness. Will we be able to step up and tackle this important issue to the benefit of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and through this act of recognition, help to chart another course through these other big challenges?

Australia is the only post-colonial nation without constitutional recognition of its First Nations people. Our First Nations people have considered this collectively, very deeply, and what more than 80% are asking for is one small thing: to be heard. Surely each one of us can look into our hearts, think about the continuing disadvantage, recognise that many efforts to impose solutions have not worked, and be willing to listen. Not to act, but just to listen. Not to do so seems to me to be mean-spirited. And even if there were no examples of this approach being effective, what would we risk by agreeing to it, as an act of respect?

If my fellow-Australians cannot find it in their hearts to step up and facilitate this, in the days and years afterwards, these people will continue on with their lives without a thought about it. But we will be diminished as a country if that happens, and the world will be right to see us as racist.

I will try my best to support an outcome we can be proud of, with the sort of pride we have felt during the Matilda’s heart-warming soccer campaign. If we fail, I will withdraw from the world for a period. I will mourn the death of hope, decency, fairness, and the fair go that we like to imagine is a hallmark of our society. I will mourn in sadness and in solidarity, for it would be a crushing blow.

In the words of the creators of the Uluru Statement from the Heart: ‘We invite you to walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future.’

What are you thinking will be your response to this invitation?

See you on the other side.