โโฆ.The declared aim of the Yes advocates who have led the drafting of the proposal to place the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice in the Constitution is co-government. Co-government is also what the words of the proposed amendment will achieve.
๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ซ๐ค๐๐๐ ๐๐จ ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ฉ๐๐, ๐๐ฉ๐จ ๐ก๐๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐ง๐จ ๐ฌ๐๐ก๐ก ๐ก๐๐ ๐๐ก๐ฎ ๐๐๐ซ๐๐จ๐ ๐๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐จ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ ๐ก๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐๐ง ๐จ๐ช๐๐ ๐๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ค๐ฃ๐ ๐จ๐๐ฉ ๐ค๐ช๐ฉ ๐ค๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐๐จ ๐ฅ๐๐๐, ๐ค๐ง ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐ข๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐๐๐ก๐๐จ๐ ๐๐ค๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐จ๐ค๐ซ๐๐ง๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ฎ ๐จ๐ฉ๐ง๐ช๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ง๐๐จ. ๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐ฌ๐ค๐ง๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฃ๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃโ๐จ ๐ข๐ค๐จ๐ฉ ๐ฅ๐ง๐ค๐ข๐๐ฃ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐๐ก ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐ข๐๐ฃ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ก๐๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐ง๐จ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฉ ๐ ๐ก๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐๐ง ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ซ๐ค๐๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ช๐ก๐ ๐จ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ค๐ฃ ๐๐๐ฎ ๐ค๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ง๐๐๐๐ฉ๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐ฉ ๐๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐พ๐ค๐ฃ๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ.
๐๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ค๐ฌ๐๐ง ๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ซ๐ค๐๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐๐ก๐๐ฎ ๐๐ญ๐๐๐ช๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ ๐๐ฎ ๐ช๐จ๐ ๐ค๐ ๐๐ฉ๐จ ๐ง๐๐๐๐ฉ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ก๐๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ก๐ก ๐ข๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฎ ๐๐ญ๐๐๐ช๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ค๐๐ฎ ๐ค๐ ๐๐ค๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฃ๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐ข๐ช๐จ๐ฉ ๐ฃ๐๐๐ค๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ซ๐ค๐๐๐ ๐ค๐ฃ ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฎ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ฉ ๐ฅ๐ก๐๐ฃ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐ค, ๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐๐, ๐๐ ๐๐ฉ ๐๐จ ๐๐๐ช๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ ๐ฃ๐๐ฉ ๐ค๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ฎ โ๐ข๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐จ ๐ง๐๐ก๐๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ผ๐๐ค๐ง๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ก ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ค๐ง๐ง๐๐จ ๐๐ฉ๐ง๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐จ๐ก๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ง ๐ฅ๐๐ค๐ฅ๐ก๐๐จโ. ๐๐๐๐จ ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฉ๐๐จ ๐๐ค-๐จ๐ค๐ซ๐๐ง๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ฎ ๐๐๐ฉ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฃ ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐ค๐ง๐๐๐ฃ๐จ ๐ค๐ ๐๐ค๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฃ๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐ค๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ค๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐, ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ซ๐ค๐๐๐ ๐ค๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ค๐ฉ๐๐๐ง.
๐๐๐๐จ ๐๐จ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐๐จ๐จ๐๐ง๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ. ๐๐๐๐จ ๐๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ญ๐ฅ๐ก๐๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐๐ข ๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ก๐ช๐ง๐ช ๐๐ฉ๐๐ฉ๐๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ฉ. ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ค๐ง๐ ๐ค๐ ๐ก๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐๐ข๐๐๐จ ๐ฌ๐๐ค ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐ข๐๐จ๐ฉ๐๐งยญ๐ข๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ค๐ง๐ฎ ๐ค๐ ๐จ๐ฅ๐ก๐๐ฉ ๐จ๐ค๐ซ๐๐ง๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ฎ. ๐ผ๐ฃ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ข๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ฅ๐๐ง ๐๐๐ง๐ก๐๐๐ง ๐ฉ๐๐๐จ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ง ๐๐ฎ ๐๐ง๐ค๐๐๐จ๐จ๐ค๐ง ๐ผ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ก๐๐๐ฎ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐ง ๐๐ค๐ก๐ก๐๐๐๐ช๐๐จ ๐๐ค๐ฃ ๐๐๐ซ๐ฎ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐ก๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ฃ ๐ก๐๐๐ ๐ค๐ช๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ก๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ง๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐๐ก๐ก ๐ฉ๐ค ๐จ๐๐.
๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ข๐๐๐จ ๐๐๐จ๐๐ง๐๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ ๐ค๐ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฃ-๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ค๐ช๐จ ๐ฅ๐๐ค๐ฅ๐ก๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ โ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐ก๐๐๐ฃ ๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ฉ๐โ๐จ ๐จ๐ค๐ซ๐๐ง๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ฎ ๐๐จ ๐ช๐ก๐ฉ๐๐ข๐๐ฉ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ญ๐๐ก๐ช๐จ๐๐ซ๐โ ๐๐จ ๐ ๐ข๐๐ง๐ โ๐๐จ๐จ๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃโ. ๐๐๐๐ฎ ๐๐ก๐๐๐ข ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ผ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐ก๐๐ ๐จ๐ช๐๐๐๐ง๐จ ๐๐ง๐ค๐ข ๐ ๐๐ง๐๐จ๐๐จ ๐ค๐ โ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐๐ก ๐ก๐๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ข๐๐๐ฎโ
This would likely surprise the vast majority of Australians.
The Prime Minister plainly misunderstands the legal impact of his proposed wording, although it would seem the Solicitor-General does not. Anthony Albanese misled parliament โ and the people โ when he said parliament would retain primacy over how the voice operated and what it considered.
๐ป๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ (๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐๐๐ ๐ช๐๐๐๐๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ) ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐.
๐ป๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐, ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐, ย if it is caught in the wide net of any โmatters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoplesโ. This creates co-sovereignty between our organs of government on the one hand, and the voice on the other.
This is not my assertion. This is the explicit aim of the Uluru Statement. Read the work of legal academics who have masterยญminded this theory of split sovereignty. An academic paper earlier this year by Professor Appleby and her colleagues Ron Levy and Helen Whalan laid out the blueprint for all to see.
The academics describe the belief of non-Indigenous people that โthe Australian stateโs sovereignty is ultimate and exclusiveโ as a mere โassumptionโ. They claim that Australia suffers from a crisis of โconstitutional legitimacyโ.
This would likely surprise the vast majority of Australians.
The change desired, to borrow from Applebyโs blueprint, is constitutional change which โmay allow the voice, working with parliament, to be an alternative site for decision-making about how settler and First Nations communities can manage their shared (or conflicting) resources, institutions and spaces in ways that accommodate each community to the otherโ. The aim here is clearly not parliamentary primacy, Prime Minister, but rather shared power.
Including the power to make representations to โexecutive governmentโ in the proposed constitutional amendment is critical to this co-sovereignty. Those few words brings with them an enormous body of public administrative law governing the way courts will be able to interpret the voiceโs powers, offering the voice power to delay government decisions. This body of law will be used by the High Court, cannot be ousted by parliament and will give the voice rights of procedural fairness.
These rights include, but are by no means limited to, the right to be given advance notice of matters within the voiceโs remit; the right to be given sufficient time and resources to consider the matter; and proper consideration of any representation it makes.
The voice will, if properly advised, demand all these rights on the first day it is constituted.
The letter in the accompanying box is but one example. The voice will have many other ways to enforce its rights if it chooses. The methodology could vary but the result will be the same: a radically different form of government for the country, where, across large swathes of executive government, there is co-governmentโฆโ