Two Blak Grassroots Campaigners answer your referendum questions about a First Nations Voice to parliament.! Artwork

Community Conversations by Clothing The Gaps

Community Conversations is the podcast from the certified Aboriginal business, social enterprise and B-corp, Clothing The Gaps.

At Clothing The Gaps we often say it’s more than a tee — it’s a conversation starter.

And this podcast is where those conversations continue. Each episode, we sit down with inspiring people from community to talk about justice, advocacy, and the stories behind the movements that got us to where we are today — and those shaping the future.

These are conversations that matter — and we hope they spark many more.

All Episodes

Community Conversations by Clothing The Gaps

Two Blak Grassroots Campaigners answer your referendum questions about a First Nations Voice to parliament.!

September 05, 2023 • Clothing The Gaps

0:00 | 57:53

Millie and Tarneen joined us on our podcast to answer your referendum questions submitted via the Clothing The Gaps Instagram - they speak openly and emotionally about why they are a 'yes' and how it is all feeling in First Nations Communities right now.

Millie Telford (she/her) is a Bundjalung and South Sea Islander woman and currently working as the First Nations Justice Director at Australian Progress. Prior to this role, Millie co-founded Seed Mob, to support a grassroots network of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people to protect country, culture and communities from the causes and impacts of climate change.

Tarneen (they/them) is a proud Gunditjmara, Bindal, Yorta Yorta person and Torres Strait Islander from Mer and Erub Islands. Tarneen is a community organiser for Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance, working on Invasion Day, Black Deaths in Custody, and Stop the Forced Closure of Aboriginal Community campaigns. They are a filmmaker, writer, community organiser and currently working as the First Nations Events & Program Manager with Australian Progress.

Why should white people be allowed to vote on this? considering it's voice for First Nations people.

Do you think a successful a 'yes' vote will mean the government will be able to negotiate with The Voice body to enact treaty?

I'm Mob. How do I respond to whites when they say "what about Aboriginal people who are saying no"?

Why is Community divided?

How have you as an Indigenous person come to believe that assimilating into the constitution of an illegal occupation will actually positively change Indigenous people's lives in this continent?

How will the referendum change the daily lives of First Nations people?

Why is the government funding a 'Yes Voice' Campaign but not a 'No' Campaign?

Are you worried about the rise in lateral violence?

What has been the thoughts and feelings of your Indigenous Communities Organisations publicly supporting a 'yes' vote? Has it increased cultural load, made them feel proud of orgs or made in it harder to voice doubts about the referendum?

What if instead of voting 'yes' or 'no' lots of people wrote on the ballot paper 'Treaty'? If a lot of people did this would it be an opportunity for the conversation of Treaty to be brought forward quicker?

Do you find there is more media pressure for ‘yes’ than ‘no’ votes? I feel the explanation of ‘no’ votes has been shoved under the rug on my social media.

What is the right thing to do?

As a non-Indigenous person what are the best resources to point people towards when they want education on the voice?

Should non-Indigenous people be involved in campaigning for the referendum?

How can I have faith in a referendum with the government who is currently overlooking human rights to lock up our children as young as ten years old?

Does the voice to parliament and constitutional recognition take us further away from self determination and self governance based on our own terms?

Is the idea that the voice isn’t good enough or won’t give enough power to Aboriginal people a good enough reason to vote ‘no’?

There seems to be support from Indigenous people for both the ‘yes’ and ‘no’ vote with solid reasoning behind both sides. As a non-Indigenous person I want to use my vote to amplify the voices of those most impacted by the result.

I’m worried the ‘no’ vote will validate right wing folk who think nothing needs to be changed, and am worried that a ‘yes’ will be a tokenistic measure and bandaid solutions to a large problem.

How can we go into this referendum armed with the best information to support Indigenous communities?

Community care and final thoughts.