Voice in the wilderness

Australians face the prospect of a referendum here in Australia in as little as six months time where they’ll be asked to decide there should be a new institution to represent the views of Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander people in the corridors of power.

It will be known as the Voice, its members will be unelected, and its existence will be enshrined in the constitution making it difficult to abolish.

If I sound a little hazy about the detail it’s because I am, along with almost every other Australian I suspect, up to and including the Prime Minister.

The process of forming this proposal has been chaotic, the timetable rushed, the debate has been driven almost by emotion and legitimate questions have been brushed aside by those supposedly in the know.

To add to that, advocates of the voice are split along multiple lines. It is, to say the least, confusing.

In a bid to make sense of the Voice, Nick Cater is joined by Amanda Stoker, a constitutional lawyer, former federal assistant attorney general and now a distinguished fellow at the Menzies Research Centre.

Nick Cater is Senior Fellow at the Menzies Research Centre

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