There’s something so perfect about the fact that one of the famous symbols of New South Wales is a bridge. And what an extraordinary symbol it is.
The Sydney Harbour Bridge was a bold but ultimately practical solution to a very real problem. It brought a city together and, with a design that exudes the confidence of this great state, it has been a source of pride to us all ever since.
That’s what the referendum this Saturday is about: creating a practical solution that brings people together.
It’s about getting better results because you’re listening to the people who know the best way forward.
And it’s about saving money because you build what’s actually needed and you invest in what really works.
Voting Yes will recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our Constitution. It will celebrate the fact our continent is home to the oldest culture on earth.
Voting Yes is about listening to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people so we can achieve better results for their communities and for their children.
The idea of the Voice comes from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people themselves.
It is their request: a committee of Indigenous Australians, chosen by Indigenous communities, who will give advice to Government on how we can get better results in Indigenous health, education and employment.
The idea of a Voice is the product of years of listening and consultation, right across the country.
Over the years it has been supported by people from both sides of politics.
And all members of Federal Parliament – including your local MP – will have a role in designing it.
It won’t have the power to overrule parliament or block laws.
It won’t distribute funding or run programs.
Its power will be the power of its ideas.
There is nothing to fear in this proposal.
It will bring to Canberra the good advice, the local knowledge and the practical experience that too many politicians have overlooked for too long. It will be a lot more effective than guesswork, and a lot cheaper.
For 122 years, governments from both sides of politics, usually with the best of intentions done things to or for Indigenous Australians, but have not done things with Indigenous Australians.
This is the approach that has given us an 8-year gap in life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians; a suicide rate twice as high; and Aboriginal communities in NSW suffering from diseases that have been virtually eliminated everywhere else in the world.
This is the broken system that means a young Indigenous man is more likely to go jail than to university.
That is the reality of the situation now. But as the great Evonne Goolagong Cawley said last week, the referendum is our chance to ensure it isn’t the future.
Voting No means nothing will change.
It means the same waste and the same failures.
Voting Yes means rejecting the idea that this is as good as it gets.
Yes is Australia’s chance to fix the mess.
Yes means recognising this is the best chance of a way forward we’ve ever had.
This is where Indigenous Australians are appealing to the people of NSW, to your kindness and your common sense.
This referendum is about the fair go.
On Saturday, voters are being asked to respond positively to the request of Aboriginal Australians for recognition and to be listened to by voting Yes.
With that one word you can help build a bridge as great as the one that stretches over Sydney Harbour with the Australian and Aboriginal flags flying so proudly from the top of its great arch.
And you’ll only need a pencil.
This opinion piece was first published in The Daily Telegraph on Friday, 13 October 2023.