25 September 2023
After careful consideration, and talking to the Community Legal Centres NSW Aboriginal Advisory Group and our other First Nation colleagues, Community Legal Centres NSW supports the Yes campaign on the Voice to Parliament.
Community Legal Centres NSW recognises and respects the diversity of First Nations communities and peoples’ views on the enshrinement of First Nations voice in the Australian Constitution.
Community Legal Centres NSW acknowledges the importance of the 12 First Nations Regional Dialogues, which engaged over 1200 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people on questions of real and meaningful recognition in the Constitution. These consultations, and the history of the struggle for meaningful constitutional recognition by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, ultimately led (through the First Nations Constitutional Convention at Uluru) to the proposal of a Voice to Parliament as part of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, encompassing Voice, Treaty and Truth.
The Uluru Statement from the Heart is an invitation to the Australian people. We need the support of all Australians to walk with us.
We acknowledge that this is not a new proposal, as it aligns with previous statements made by First Nations peoples.
Community Legal Centres NSW supports the Yes campaign of the Voice, as it is the most available and practical pathway to the other elements of the Uluru Statement of the Heart: Treaty and Truth.
Community Legal Centres NSW supports the Yes campaign of the Voice to Parliament as First Nations communities and peoples are asking Australians to be supporters in the enshrinement of a First Nations voice in the Australian Constitution. The foundation of our relationship with First Nations people and communities is decency and respect, and we believe that standing in solidarity with First Nations peoples on the Uluru Statement from the Heart is the right thing to do.
Community Legal Centres NSW recognises and respects that it is people who will vote in the referendum, not organisations, and that Community Legal Centres NSW supports a Yes position while respecting the right of our member organisations and its people to support different positions.
CLCNSW Aboriginal Advisory Group statement:
“We recognise the long fight of the generations before us. We pay our respect to the giants that have come before us, upon whose shoulders we stand, who pushed forward through the ’67 referendum, the Barunga statement, Kirribilli statement, Yirrkala bark petitions and the many other calls for change. May a successful referendum lead to the realisation of their legacy, a legacy that all Australians may share.”