Aboriginal Australian activist and academic Marcia Langton has made a rallying call of support for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament at the National Press Club. This comes as First Nations mental health advocates call for politicians to pledge to engage in a more respectful referendum debate.
"Vote yes so we thrive not survive. Thrive not survive, as peoples, as the first peoples... Thank you"
Professor Langton, alongside Aboriginal Elder and Professor Tom Calma, chaired the senior advisory group from 2019 to 2021 of the Voice co-design project. She pointed to past failed government initiatives to make decisions for Indigenous Australian people, such as the 2007 government decision to send the Australian Defence Force into Aboriginal communes in the Northern Territory under the guise of protecting Aboriginal children from sexual abuse, suspending the racial discrimination act and assuming control of the land in these communities.
The pledge is a set of principles to encourage more civil and inclusive conversations about the Indigenous voice to parliament, that aim to reduce social and emotional harms ahead of the referendum on October 14. Professor Langton condemned the vitriol and abuse that has characterised parts of the referendum campaign.
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