EXCLUSIVE
A former Northern Territory chief minister who returned land to Aboriginal traditional owners more than three decades ago has revealed he is voting No to the Voice.
Marshall Perron’s Country Liberal Party government in 1989 returned what was then known as Katherine Gorge National Park to the Jawoyn people.
The 292,000 hectares of tropical wilderness was later renamed Nitmiluk National Park, with the decade-long process occurring despite fierce opposition from non-Aboriginal people in the nearby town of Katherine.
His government also advanced the process of allowing the Arrarrkbi people to occupy and use the Cobourg Peninsula, north-east of Darwin.
Mr Perron, now 81, said the idea of embedding a Voice to Parliament in the Constitution wrongly implied Aboriginal people weren’t being listened to.
‘I’m a hard No on the Voice,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.
Former Northern Territory chief minister Marshall Perron (left) who returned land to Aboriginal traditional owners more than three decades ago has revealed he is voting No to the Voice. Marshall Perron’s Country Liberal Party government in 1989 returned what was then known as Katherine Gorge National Park to the Jawoyn people (he is pictured with Phyllis Winyjorrotj and Jeffrey McDonald)
The 292,000 hectares of tropical wilderness was later renamed Nitmiluk National Park (pictured), with the decade-long process occurring despite fierce opposition from non-Aboriginal people in the nearby town of Katherine
‘There is no necessity for it to be in the Constitution whatsoever.
‘I cannot see the case for constitutional change in order to establish a Voice which, in itself, implies the gap will never be closed.
‘I believe that the case, or the argument, that we have never listened to Aboriginal people or consulted them on what they want is just absurd.’
Mr Perron, best known for introducing world-first voluntary euthanasia laws in 1995, supports recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Constitution – the same position as federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.
But he feared embedding a Voice advisory body in the Constitution would make race a far more prominent feature of Australia’s founding document.
While race is referred to already in the Constitution, the Voice to Parliament would award special privileges based solely on race.
‘What also upsets a lot of Australians is the people you see often arguing these issues are living a Western lifestyle, quite clearly, employed and whatever, whereas all of the real issues involved in the gap are in remote, Aboriginal environments,’ Mr Perron said.
Mr Perron, who led the Northern Territory from 1988 to 1995, said a constitutionally-enshrined Voice would be dominated by activists with little connection to remote, Aboriginal communities where there are higher rates of poverty.
‘The Voice is not going to be comprised of people from remote areas, apart from a smattering of them,’ he said.
This means the concerns of Aboriginal people in West Arnhem Land and Central Australia could be overlooked.
‘Whatever it’s composition, it’s going to be largely, urban or semi-urban Aboriginal people who don’t have the issues they have at Maningrida, Papunya or Yuendumu,’ Mr Perron said.
‘These places which are, by and large, sad places to visit.
‘I say that regretfully after having been in government for 21 years, chief minister for seven and tried bloody hard to do what we could.’
Mr Perron, now 81, said the idea of embedding a Voice to Parliament in the Constitution wrongly implied Aboriginal people weren’t being listened to
Mr Perron, who now lives on the Sunshine Coast, said there was now an industry of people identifying as Aboriginal who didn’t battle poverty.
‘I think that’s without question,’ he said.
‘The last Census, there was a massive increase in people who ticked the box that identified as Aboriginal, who presumably, previously didn’t.
‘I suppose you could be kind and say, ‘Well, they’re doing that because the atmosphere has changed and they now feel more comfortable as identifying as Aboriginal’, but I think there’s a degree of opportunism there.’
In the 2021 Census, the national proportion of people identifying as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander rose to 3.2 per cent, up from 2.8 per cent in 2016.
Their ranks swelled to 812,728 people, from 649,173 people five years earlier.
In the Northern Territory, 26.3 per cent of residents identify as Aboriginal, with this area of Australia home to more remote communities.
Mr Perron questioned why people identifying as Indigenous, who lived comfortably, should be entitled to special treatment.
‘If you see someone who’s on $150,000 a year, living quite comfortably, why should they get cheap tickets to the Opera House for goodness sake?,’ he said.
‘It beggars belief in my view.
Mr Perron, who led the Northern Territory from 1988 to 1995, said a constitutionally-enshrined Voice would be dominated by activists with little connection to remote, Aboriginal communities where there are higher rates of poverty (pictured are women at Maningrida in West Arnhem Land)
He feared the concerns of Voice activists in urban areas (Sydney Yes rally pictured) would overshadow the needs of those in Central Australia in places like Papunya or Yuendumu
‘Some of the No voters, I believe, will be saying to themselves, ‘Why should these people who are living the same lifestyle and the same income as I am be entitled to any particular benefits that I’m not entitled to?’.’
As for closing the gap, Mr Perron said Indigenous people living in remote areas, often in overcrowded housing, had to make the choice for themselves to relocate to an urban centre.
‘There are cultural issues involved and as long as we support Aborigines retaining their cultural practices, because it’s important to them, we need to understand that unless they aspire to our way of life, the gap will never be closed,’ he said.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
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