Local Yes campaigner says treaty is next step
As Yes advocates regroup following the resounding No vote in the recent Voice to Parliament Referendum, Tony McAvoy is ‘all revved up and ready to go for the next round’.
Mr McAvoy, who was Australia’s first indigenous barrister and lives in Manly Vale, said he was not ‘wallowing in sadness or self-pity’. Warringah’s resounding Yes vote – 58.84 per cent – gave Mr McAvoy great comfort and was a cause for ‘celebration,’ he told Peninsula Living. “But at the same time, I have been involved through the Don Dale Royal Commission in the Northern Territory in work that sees the gross abuse of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) children through our systems of government. (There are) community attitudes in many places around the country that have no regard for the welfare of their children in a manner that you’d expect in such a privileged country.
“And to know that on the Northern beaches that people care sufficiently to understand what the Voice proposal was and voted accordingly gives me gives me a great comfort for my kids, but makes me sad for the other children around the country.”
Independent Warringah MP Zali Steggall, who campaigned strongly for the Voice, expressed how ‘incredibly disappointed’ she was with Australia on an Instagram post made on polling night.
Ms Steggall cited misinformation as a key issue. “The (Voice) message was twisted and contorted with conspiracy theories and rubbish,” Ms Steggall said on her post. “If there’s one thing (the result) shows is that we need so much more education about what constitutional recognition means. And how much disadvantage there is (for ATSI people).
It was no surprise to Mr McAvoy that Warringah’s adjoining seats, which also have ‘teal’ politicians, also voted Yes. Mackellar had the slimmest margin, at 50.40 per cent, with North Sydney the strongest of the three, at 59.35 per cent. It was something not seen in any other part of Australia. Mr McAvoy said the teal politicians had made information available early and the No’s fear campaign ‘did not strike home’ with the Warringah electorate.
The next step would be truth telling and a treaty process, which has already been in progress in Victoria under the Makarrata Commission – and was promised by Federal Labor before the last election. “Treaties are the most appropriate vehicle for a level of coexistence in this country that is mutually beneficial and respectful and allows us to maintain our distinctive cultures,” he said. Such treaties could be enforced in law like any other contract, or protected by legislation.