The Uluru Statement From The Heart A Constitutionally-Enshrined First Nations Voice To Parliament
“Let no one say the past is dead. The past is all about us and within”
– Oodgeroo Noonuccal
On June 19, the Voice referendum bill passed the senate (52 votes to 19) confirming the wording of the constitutional change to be put to the Australian people and the referendum question. AJDS’s Voice backgrounder has been updated to reflect this. We hope you enjoy this quick read – providing background on the Voice and key concerns raised about it.
Why it matters to Jewish Australians
Many of us in the Australian Jewish community are not descended from those who participated in the colonisation of the country we now call Australia. For many of us it was not our ancestors who dispossessed the First Peoples of this land, perpetrated massacres, rapes, slave labour, separated children from family. Many of our ancestors were struggling in Europe where a background of antisemitism finally led to the Shoah.
However, Australian Jewry along with all Australians benefit from this nation’s colonisation. No matter where we live in Australia, whether we live in Bondi or Caulfield, Menora, Adelaide or West Brisbane we are living on stolen Aboriginal land.
The AJDS has prepared a detailed background statement as a PDF to read online or download. Here is the online version with links. The print version is below it.