 Hey guys, so if you've been watching my channel for a while by now You've probably come to the realization that I have a fascination and all things that are not mainstream But more specifically minority languages constructed languages Micronations the random cultures of the world. I don't know why but that's just the way I'm inclined But this Saturday I actually have to make a decision see here on Saturday We are going to be voting in Australia for those who don't know on a change to our Constitution a change which can possibly touch every part of our society But it's related to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities of Australia and for those who don't know They are the indigenous groups of this country now before I jump into this Referendum what it's about and actually figuring it out myself I wanted to show a book that I've got because in a previous video or I believe it was a comment section Maybe I was in discussion with someone about minority languages and specifically those I'm interested in and here is one Of Australia so as you can see I've got this little booklet here I can't pronounce it properly so I'm not going to try but it's an alphabet and pronunciation guy, which is funny enough Because then if I actually learned to properly, I'd probably be able to pronounce it properly but this is one of the languages I'm interested in and also To give you an idea of what it looks like the the makeup of the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community We can actually have a look at the languages themselves So here I'm showing you a map of Australia And if you see the dark green that represents that more than 3% or 3.77% of the population within that area Actually speak one of the Aboriginal languages or Torres Strait Islander languages And you can see that the vast majority are found in this northern territory right here And then you've got Western Australia here some in South Australia and a little bit in northern Queensland Now this language from this book here actually comes from this region right here so Also, I believe I should inform you that there's probably something like 250 I believe last that I remember reading 250 Australian Aboriginal languages In fact, I have an article open here. We probably have a look Yeah, so a minimum of 250 up to possibly 363 now these are Languages like distinct languages from each other they're not dialects although there is a lot of crossover in a lot of them They're distinct, okay So these represent separate communities that existed or still exist with an Australia And I say that because the vast majority of these languages are basically extinct Maybe they've got less than 10 speakers or they have no speakers a few of them have a couple of hundred and some have a couple of thousand possibly up to ten thousand so Realistically these languages are near the verge of disappearing and it's a sad thing But it's kind of the state of the indigenous languages within Australia now Let's get to the Constitution because it kind of relates all back to this and specifically my interests So the government has released released an official referendum booklet now I'm only going to refer to this booklet the reason being is because if you go on to social media And you look at what's happening in the Australian social media. It's really toxic right now Basically, you've got two groups those who are saying you must vote for this if you do you're basically showing to the Aboriginal groups and the Torres Strait Islander groups that you are supportive of them you recognize them as a people And all those things that come along with that and those same people are saying if you vote no against it You're basically a racist and a bigot and the people who are saying You have to vote no for it is because it's unwarranted or It's ill-defined or it opens up a pandora's box of problems But anyway, I'm not going to go into the social media arguments because realistically we're not voting on the social media arguments We're voting on this this pamphlet that you see here on the screen So let's have a quick look at what it actually says So this is the question that we're going to be basically asking To vote on we are being asked to either accept or reject this proposed change to the Australian Constitution So adding to this chapter here chapter 9 recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples now it says and this has been in the general Discourse in public referred to as the voice as you can see here the Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander voice in Recognition of Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first peoples of Australia There shall be a body to be called the Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander voice so the first part is a proposal to set up some type of committee or Organization that will represent the Aboriginal Torres Strait Islanders the second one the Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander voice may make Representations to the parliament and the executive government on the Commonwealth on matters Relating to Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander peoples So it's basically saying that they can propose things or they when they make Representations because I'm not a legal person I don't actually know what that means and there's a lot of Discussions around the nuances of this wording so that could be actually one of the things that we're going to see in this document But basically they can make advice I guess or even binding advice I don't know to our parliament and the executive government about matters that relate to them Now this is where things get ambiguous and I'll get into a little bit later And the last one is the Parliament shall subject to the Constitution and power to make laws with respect to matters relating to the Aboriginal Torres Strait Islanders voice including its composition functions powers and procedures. It's basically saying that the parliament Subject to the Constitution so that means that the parliament is allowed to do this as long as the Constitution says they're not allowed to do this which is to propose changes to this committee So the interesting thing about this pamphlet is it's actually split into two parts You got the first part which basically says this is all the reasons you should vote yes And it's being driven by a yes campaign And then you got a second part which is all the reasons for why you should vote no and it's been driven by no campaign I actually like the fact that you've got the points So succinctly listed there by both groups because if we could do this for all things it would just make life so much Easier, but anyway, let's get into it. So we're going to start with first the yes side and what they're saying Now I've actually read through this already because it's it's quite extensive It's like not massive, but it's extensive enough that it would take up too much time to do in just a video So basically this is what yes is saying you're recognizing that the aboriginal stock Torres Strait Islander people in the Constitution Means you're showing them recognition It's basically a way of reconciliation and then by having this committee you're listening to their You're listening to what they believe is important and what matters and then This will help them the idea is that if there's a committee that's made up of them Then this will help them make better decisions for their community Which will result in improved health education employment and housing for them as a people and Then if we go down here It's basically just jumps into a few different spots about like why this is a good thing and all that type of stuff I'm going to jump past a lot of it And I'm going to do this also for the no side because a lot of it is just emotionally driven like they don't actually provide much meat On either side about what this is we're literally voting on just that tiny little paragraph That's going to be added. So there's a lot of this is what we believe is going to happen But they say this is what's going to happen It's obvious that this is just a belief or a desire for what's going to happen. Okay, so basically we're going to jump down to this part here Okay, so this is the first part wanted to point out So the voice will be a committee of Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander people who will give advice to the parliament and government on issues that affect their community So I already see one potential pitfall here and that's the fact that it says it's a committee that's made up of Aboriginal Torres Strait Islanders Okay, so Which ones? The reason being is because they say from every state and territory if we go have a look at that map again You can see that the vast majority of Aboriginal like the people who still speak the language and therefore most likely followed the closest of the traditions of their language of their community I found in the Northern Territory Western Australia a little bit in the southern northern Queensland. So If we're going to have representatives from each state and territory in some places There's hardly any do they get less of a representation or do they get an equal representation and say the people in the Northern Territory and Western Australia where realistically is the vast majority of the people who this this will actually positively impact because the people the Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory and Western Australia the ones who are most often presented especially within like news and stuff as having the biggest Having the biggest issues in their society and needing the most assistance Because it's also the most remote regions within Australia as well I'm not saying there's not problems in other regions But I'm saying that's where the most most of these issues stem from when I have friends who are aboriginals that live here and Sydney they look pretty much like me. They they work like me. They have a completely they're completely integrated into Western society So will their voice be on par with those people who are in like Western Australia and Northern Australia? And then the second question leads from that is who actually Does this effect because here it's saying in the booklet That this proposed change is relating to Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander peoples. Well, realistically Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander peoples are in every part of society in Australia So then therefore this could potentially affect anyone in society Because any well it could affect anyone indirectly because they work in every other part of Australia They're just part of the Australian society now. They're Australians So is this more related to those remote communities that need assistance or is it just a general cover for all? And therefore, how do you show that you're an aboriginal and the reason I say that is because in Australia whenever we have the Census that happens you basically just tick a box to say yes, I'm an aboriginal yes I'm a Torres Strait Islander, or you know, I'm not there's there's no like mean there's no like Tribal membership or like community memberships or anything like that that I've seen anywhere So I don't know like who belongs to this or not Like I can say I definitely don't because I'm the first-gen Australian my mom's from Germany. My dad's from New Zealand. So This is not going to like I'm definitely not one of these people But there's lots of people who are like the partial aboriginal but and then there's other people who don't even know that they are So like I don't know how this will work. Is it gonna be like an American style system? Like a New Zealand style system where they've got I have no idea and it's not really clarified all it's saying is that there will be representatives from each state and region and Remote communities from the regions and remote community. So regions implies that they'll be represented from here in Sydney And we're remote community means those in the countryside, but I think the remote community should be the ones who are getting the most support but then again That would create even more ambiguity because what happens once something belong no longer is a remote region like it's Upgraded it's like I don't know how to put it But anyway, that's basically the main part of this whole argument on the left Side so the left side being the yes vote basically They talk about the fact that you know if we have a community that's made up of our regionals and basically That will save money But they also kind of contradict themselves because they say in this part that in a part here that let me find it It says right here governments from both sides have invested billions in programs that haven't fixed problems or reached communities a Voice will help us listen to locals and save money So I don't know how like they should have really clarified how this differentiates from the current ones because I know there is actually already committees or Organizations that exist that represent the Aboriginal communities and I keep saying Aboriginal communities But you got to remember these are not a monolith They're completely separate communities and although some work together others don't Because they're they're culturally and historically different from each other So it's kind of it feels like it's a giant lumping under one umbrella and I'm not a real fan of that I like to I Like I guess I don't really have a say in that matter because I'm not one of their communities They can do it how they want but I get the feeling that the vast majority of them don't want to be all lumped under one Giant umbrella, but that's just my feeling now. They've also got some quotes in here from Aboriginal elders Who say, you know, they're for this type of thing? So obviously there is some support within the actual Aboriginal community itself, but now let's jump over to the no vote Okay, so the no side the no side of things is basically just a counter argument to everything That's on the the yes side of things. So basically they're saying one This is basically going to institutionalize racism in a way because you're you're putting a racial clause within the Constitution, which I I actually don't like it or I don't like the fact that right like race is being put into a document that is Potentially permanent for the entire duration of the existence of Australia or until some drastic happens in our Constitution changes once again So I agree definitely with that side of things. It also says that this This voice can actually affect more than just the Aboriginal community because well as I stated They make up every part of society So it says here the voice model isn't just to the Parliament It goes much further to all areas of executive government That includes all government departments agencies and other bodies like the Reserve Bank Decisions in relation to the economy national security infrastructure health education more would all be within a scope so they're basically saying that this community would have an outweighed like and an Oversized influence upon everything in compared to everyone else So I guess whether you believe that they should have that type of influence or not Like is it it within our form of our our country? Really is whether you agree with this point or not I don't think it's a good idea that they have that much influence according to this But then again because this like what we're voting on is so limited. Maybe this is not even true I don't know But there's other things that come into play in here as well They say it opens up the door for activists. This is basically just like a whole anti Anti-woke basically section right around here. Whereas basically saying as activists will come in they'll take over and they'll be able to you know, just pointlessly do things like abolish Australia Day change our flag institutions and symbols and That's definitely gonna happen if this happens as well because there's already a push to change things like Australia Day Our flag and stuff like that. So although they're not wrong I realistically don't care too much about that stuff like that doesn't really bother me if they change Australia Day Which is currently a public holiday to a different day as long as it's a public holiday. I'm happy But if you take it away, it's not a public holiday anymore. I'm not happy So it has to be a public holiday. Whatever you change it to the flag and all those other things They can they change if we really need to but I don't really see a point But the more important thing is down here. They've got some quotes from actual constitutional lawyers This person here. So Terrence Cole former New South Wales Supreme Court judge Australians need to understand that the voice will be used to support the demands for recognition of coexisting sovereignty a Makarata Commission designed to produce a treaty in monetary compensation and a rewriting of Australian history So the concern here is that by doing this the committee one of the first things that they will do Is they'll basically state that there needs to be some form of compensation To make up for the the issues of the past and again I'm not a fan of like compensation or these types of things, especially when it affects people like me who Historically like my family of no way related to any of what's happened in Australian history And I know people are gonna say well, I'm profiting off of it But that's true in any country you profit off the the mistakes and also the The the things that people have done in the past. So I don't take that as a grain of salt, I guess And then there's one other thing that was mentioned Okay, so this guy here is also a constitutional lawyer and he's saying I think it's fatally flawed because what it does is retain The full range of review of executive action. This means the voice can comment on everything from submarines to parking tickets We will have regular Judical interventions. So this is what I was mentioning before where like Aboriginals are just Australians at this stage in a lot of ways. So this committee is going to have oversight Over pretty much everything. So the problem with what we're voting on is we don't know how much power This committee is going to have it may be just an advisory thing who sticks up his hand every now and then says Hey, you know, this is great nor but it's going to negatively affect aboriginals in this way or it may be basically a whole new branch of government in the way that it acts and basically you need their approval to get anything past in order for it to move forward of what you're going to end up in some type of court battle. So That's one of the big issues here Now for me one of the things I don't like is basically the establishment of race within the Constitution so historically the Australian Constitution actually had race mentioned within it and we had we had Referendums in the past to remove race because those were targeted in a way and we still got one reference to race in the Constitution now So if you have a look at this Here I'm going to scroll down. Where is it? Here it is. There's one reference where it says this is talking about the parliament, okay? It says the people of any race for whom it is deemed necessary to make special laws So the parliament still has the ability to make special laws for certain races Which was originally introduced due to the whole White Australia policy and then trying to basically block mass immigration from East Asia primarily being China So I believe that if we're voting on anything we should be removing that like we should not have race at all in our Constitution Now maybe there is a argument to be had to say, you know We can recognize them in the Constitution But having a special body that's Dedicated to one specific group within Australia, which is now a fully multicultural community We've got pretty much everyone here like here in Sydney. You look around the vast majority of faces you see are you ever, you know They're from the Middle East. They're from Asia or they're from Europe So like you get like the full spectrum here and it's pretty much the same in all major cities in Australia And it's only when you get to the countryside where you start meeting, you know Just white people or just have originals and you have to go out pretty far for that to happen So I don't think introducing race into the Constitution is a good idea because yes I understand they had their specific problems But there's lots of communities in Australia that have their specific problems and they need to be dealt with but is Modifying the Constitution a permanent document the best solution for that. I don't think so Also, I did see in here someone mentioned something similar This isn't a no vote there are currently hundreds of indigenous represented bodies at all levels of government along with national indigenous Australian agency Which has 1,400 staff a centralized voice risks overlooking the needs of regional and remote communities And this is actually a quote from an Aboriginal person himself a national voice cannot speak for country So what they're basically saying is that as I was saying is they're not a monolith They're various I could say nations basically that exist within the Australia or like cultures that exist within the Australian Overall continent itself. So having one giant institution that represents all of them and how do they get their own representatives? Well, it seems like we're almost Juxtaposing, you know like the the western style parliamentary system onto their system And it says on the yes side that they will be able to elect representatives according to their like traditions and stuff like that But again, how does that work on a larger scale when you have so many different completely separate communities coming in? It's it's all very ambiguous at this stage So although I think the idea is good about recognition. I think the execution has been poorly thought out I don't know why it's that way if it was rushed or if some other reason But that's basically the the state of where I see it. So for me the issue is Saturday when I go down there I'm basically voting between well, do I want to show recognition but potentially cause issues in the future by embedding racial Discrimination within the Constitution I say discrimination. It could be positive or negative. It's still discrimination into the Constitution Or do I think we need to push for a better solution? For these communities moving forward and I know people who are gonna who are voting for the yes side of things I will say well, that's just a cop out. You just don't want to deal with the issue now. Well The problem is there hasn't been Like this has not been formalized in a good enough way and people have got their ideas on social media about what is It going to look like but that's not what we're voting on. That's your ideas this right here is What we're voting on this part right here and that my friends is so limited in like information density and Like realistically, I don't know why they're asking me to vote on this because I don't know what what I'm really voting on That's the problem Anyway, I'd love to hear your guy's thoughts, especially those from countries outside of Australia Who have had to deal with this issue in the past and what you think about this and what pitfalls you see? potentially based on what you've seen in your own country or Even the opposite of that like what positives have you seen as a result of this type of recognition or has this ever even Happened in your country because I still haven't made up my mind. I'm sitting on the fence at the moment So but realistically also at the end of the day it might not matter because from what I've seen polling data Let's have a look at this. So if you have a look at this here This is a news article that came out that shows basically polling data for this You can see the voice actually had pretty strong support at the start. That's when people thought it was just a recognition type of thing So most people like yeah, we've got no issue with recognizing in the Constitution that you know There was people prior to us arriving but then support started plummeting and that basically happened as more and more information came out About how it would affect things and as the campaign started to kick into place and it looks like support is now You know somewhere above 40% and I've actually heard people say well I've seen articles about it probably being about 30% on actual election day So it looks like pretty much no matter what happens. This is already dead in the water But obviously every vote does count in the end and I still want to hear your opinions and that's pretty much it I have spoken too long. I hope you guys have enjoyed this video out