this post was submitted on 14 Oct 2023
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Australians have resoundingly rejected a proposal to recognise Aboriginal people in its constitution and establish a body to advise parliament on Indigenous issues.

Saturday’s voice to parliament referendum failed, with the defeat clear shortly after polls closed.

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[–] [email protected] 74 points 1 year ago (18 children)

It's always so funny when Americans on here, including me, are openly willing to discuss how shitty, racist, and full of bigots the United States is. Around 40% of the population is complete filth and we're happy to openly acknowledge that.

Meanwhile, Canada, the UK, and Australian users, even if they're on the left, try to find excuses to not acknowledge that their general public is also significantly racist and bigoted. And always have been.

[–] [email protected] 42 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Lefty Canuck here - Very willing to admit my country is full of racist pieces of shit. And so is every other country. 30% of the world is made up of trash humans who would fuck over their mother for a dollar, or to get to their destination 10 seconds faster.

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[–] [email protected] 34 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Afraid I have to agree on the UK front. It shocks me how so many people refer to the UK as a multicultural, tolerant nation.

London, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, and Birmingham, perhaps? Outside of maybe 5-8 major cities, the amount of sexism, racism, and general hate for anyone poor or not of Anglo origin is unreal.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I remain weirded out that the racist response during Brexit was a bunch of harassment of Polish immigrants.

Why Polish? I assume it has to be some internal thing that the rest of the world doesn't have information about.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago

The Polish people are like the Mexicans (previously Irish) are to the US. They're foreigners who move to another country to do manual work cheaper than locals are willing to.

In the words of one of my favourite comedians "They're going to come over here and take all of the jobs we didn't want to do!"

[–] [email protected] 32 points 1 year ago

I'm Australian and I acknowledge the levels of racism. I think it's the racists who think it's not racist here. One guy told me he wasn't racist, his hatred and disdain for ALL aboriginal people was valid because he had had traumatic experiences, first hand. (makes me so freaking angry even typing this) his traumatic experiences were absolute bullshit. Racists justify thier racism as "a valid explanation" so they don't call themselves racists. So if people are saying it's not racist here you're probably talking to the racists. And Facebook. I also blame Facebook for this.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

The Canadian government loves to advertise how open and inclusive they are, while at the same time oppressing indigenous people. For example (although it was a while ago, I don't think a lot has changed), the Oka crisis started over a Golf Course wanting to expand into indigenous territory, which the Canadian Government eventually deployed the military (largest deployment since WWII) to support... the Golf Course.

Even elected representatives have to deal with racist bullshit while serving their country (like Mumilaaq Qaqqaq of Nunavut). It's so intertwined in Canadian society it often isn't recognized, likely because for the most part it isn't overt. A lot of the racism is subtle, reinforced by inequitable laws & policies and almost always acted on if there's plausible deniability (that is, unless they screw up). It's almost like a lot of Canadians are politely racist.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I think it's a cultural difference honestly.

I've only travelled the US, haven't spent a significant amount of time there, about 6 weeks.

I'm Australian and growing up, I was quite shocked to learn at different points of my life that a few fair people were actually racist, sexist, very right or even religious.

These things just aren't overly openly discussed. Maybe in small groups etc but a lot of the population are quite apathetic (a whole other issue) and I think there apathetic tendencies both mask their own racism or whateverism but also make them not really speak out against others.

On the other hand, America embraces individuality, fame, speaking out and standing up for your rights etc. As a whole, I feel a racist American is far more in your face than a racist Australian.

I'm curious to know if this vote really is a racist result or if a large percentage of the population got caught up with the 'no campaign' which was pushing things like 'separating us in the constitution is going to create a divide, we are ALL Australians' etc.

Interesting none the less and a shit result.

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[–] [email protected] 61 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 40 points 1 year ago (11 children)

I personally didn’t pay close attention to the campaigns, and think it pretty obvious Australia has a fair way to go on indigenous issues, but my impression is also that the Yes campaign was poorly executed and thought through, failing, in part, to recognise how much of an uphill climb it was going to be and how easy the No campaign was going to be. For instance, while reading the ballot, I was taken aback by how vague and confusing the proposal was, despite having read it before.

Otherwise, I’m hoping there’s a silver lining in the result where it will prompt an ongoing conversation about what actually happened and get the country closer to getting better at this.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 1 year ago (7 children)

There was a massive, heavily funded FUD campaign by the "no" proponents. Sadly, it was very effective.

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[–] [email protected] 48 points 1 year ago (4 children)

If the Yes campaign are serious about the Voice to the nation being important to the Indigenous people, then no-one is standing in the way of making it happen. The vote to enshrine it in the Constitution failed, but the body can still be created and can still function primarily the same.

[–] [email protected] 31 points 1 year ago (3 children)

yeah until the Liberals dismantle it. again.

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[–] [email protected] 34 points 1 year ago (3 children)

New to the subject here: why is it a desirable thing to recognise Aboriginal people in the Constitution?

As I read through the article in the Aboriginal camp not everyone wants this. So I'm puzzled.

[–] [email protected] 58 points 1 year ago (7 children)

It's complex. Quite a few in the indigenous "no" camp want treaty instead; a formal legal recognition of aboriginal rights and representation, not just an advisory voice in parliament. Voting no for them was as much a protest as an attempt to send a message saying this should be much more. For them it's all or nothing.

Others didn't see the point, yet others don't see the problem in the first place, comfortable with the status quo.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Ah the classic "I'm going to vote no to something good for me because I wanted something even better" argument 🤦‍♂️

[–] [email protected] 35 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Their argument is that the Voice isn't even something good. It doesn't give Indigenous people any powers they didn't already have, and the Voice can be ignored just as easily as the advice of the royal commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody recently was. Interview with the Black Peoples Union describes in better detail.

But even if that weren't the case and they did think it wasn't worthless symbolism, successful collective bargaining doesn't just settle for every first offer. So I don't know why you're claiming it's a bad strategy, it's how unions have won important gains for workers. It's a strategy that has been historically shown to work when applied correctly.

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[–] [email protected] 30 points 1 year ago

A sad day for Australia. It was cool to see a lot if Australian celebrities come out in support of a yes vote.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 year ago (27 children)

American here, what does it mean to recognize a class of indigenous people in Australia?

Because we have a very different understanding of the word lol

[–] [email protected] 39 points 1 year ago (2 children)

It was to put them in the constitution as the original inhabitants of Australia and give them the right to a mostly powerless advisory body to the Commonwealth government called "the Voice".

It was a pretty conservative idea but unfortunately the conservative opposition leader is the arch-racist piece of shit who will never win a real election, but in his desperation to make a name for himself he campaigned against the referendum, and referendums traditionally only succeed with bipartisan support. So now all that's really been accomplished is to disenfranchise our indigenous population even more.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I know it's a lot more nuanced than this but the idea of history being like "yes these people were unarguably here first" and government going "nah we created this place" is so fucking ridiculous.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago

It's not much more nuanced than that. Have you heard of Australia's history wars? Many of the leaders and major ministers of Australia's conservative party have been, and still are, subscribers to a completely alternate and incorrect version of Australia's history which has been pushed for decades by right wing media and political journals like Quadrant. The current party leader, Peter Dutton, literally walked out during the federal government apology for the damage it caused to the Stolen Generations.

Decades of this shit has really slowed progress on Indigenous affairs and reconciliation, and it's a big part of the reason why so many Australians have a warped idea of their own country's history (if they even know anything) and why our attitudes towards our Indigenous peoples seem so laughably archaic to the rest of the world.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago (6 children)

There's a good breakdown on the whole thing here: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/oct/13/what-is-the-indigenous-voice-to-parliament-australia-when-referendum-2023-explained-yes-no-campaign-wording

The recognition aspect was basically the creation of an advisory body to the government with members selected from indigenous groups. The idea being that the govt has historically poorly managed indigenous issues so by having them directly advising govt there should be better policy outcomes

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago

Disappointing, to say the least.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Thanks to the media shovelling fear, misinformation and lies into our minds. I blame Facebook, Twitter and Murdoch for this one.

The conspiracy theories around this issue were fucking wild. Ranging from the UN taking control of our government, to abolishing all land ownership and giving them the right to have your home demolished, to some bizarre thing about the pope or some shit.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago

The preview image looks like the lady on the right just let loose the most foul stench imaginable and the other two are being forced to deal with it.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Yeah this fucking sucks. I have to admit I was expecting Yes to win by a landslide, but I guess I give people too much credit.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago

Australia does not like referendums.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Australian Brexit moment. Some "action committees" with questionable financial sources managed to manipulate public opinion.

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