Noel Pearson says Australia doesn t make sense without Indigenous recognition brisbanetimes.com.au - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from brisbanetimes.com.au Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Melbourne, Australia – Peter Garrett, the bald, two-metre-tall frontman of Australian rock band, Midnight Oil, has never had much difficulty attracting attention.
But now the outspoken former member of parliament is backed up by some of the strongest Indigenous voices in contemporary music on a new recording and tour – The Makarrata Project.
The aim: to educate Australia about the Uluru Statement from the Heart, an advocacy campaign for a constitutionally enshrined Indigenous voice to Parliament.
“Music is the number one education in this country,” said Indigenous musician Bunna Lawrie who has joined Midnight Oil on the project. “Through music, young kids hear it and they learn a lot of things and they begin to understand.”
It s time to walk together towards a referendum : Indigenous Law Centre miragenews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from miragenews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The government earlier this year released a discussion paper exploring how an Indigenous Voice to government might work.
The Voice to government is not the same as the Voice to parliament that the Uluru Statement from the Heart proposed in 2017. This is because the government doesn’t support the Uluru idea of a distinctive Indigenous body enshrined in the constitution.
Instead, it prefers a body set up by an act of parliament. The government of the day could change its powers, or even abolish it, as it pleases. The powers could be expansive, but equally, they could be meaningless.
A Voice established under the constitution, meanwhile, would have the authority of the Australian people. This idea has attracted majority support in public opinion polls.
The Queen and Prince Philip have visited Australia over the years as Head of State (Image: GETTY) Australia is one of the few countries in the world whose people do not require their elected representatives to swear to serve their interests in Parliament. As it stands, when an Australian is elected to the Federal Parliament they are required to swear an oath or take an affirmation to Queen Elizabeth II and her heirs and successors before they can take their seat in Parliament. There is no mention of serving the Australian people who elected them. Is it any wonder that many Australians believe the Australian Parliament is out of touch?