This is a long, edited interview by Kathryn Maddden in Marie Claire with Megan Davis AC and Aunty Pat Anderson AO. They talk about the implications of the Voice Referendum two years on, along with the Uluru Statement itself, the failure of Closing the Gap, and related matters. Given the stress in Defending Country on what unites Blackfellers and Whitefellers (rather than on what divides them), we have quoted parts of the interview that touch on that issue.
The whole interview is well worth reading. (Megan Davis is one of Defending Country's distinguished Patrons.)
Says Professor Davis:
About 10 per cent [of Aboriginal Australians] voted No; it was very minuscule ... Going forward, the focus on education will be greater and the role of the non-Indigenous “ally” will be different. We don’t even see them as allies ... We can’t do this separately to them … They need to be walking next to us, not behind us … We want their active input because it’s their democracy and it’s our democracy. One of the lessons of the referendum was that we can’t drive it ourselves. It’s a movement of the Australian people.
Aunty Pat Anderson: 'The referendum was about us, but it was for the nation. It’s not about blackfellas, it’s about who we [Australians] are in the 21st century. What kind of people are we? What are our values? What do we think is important?' ...
Davis:
The whole idea was working with Aussies across 151 electorates, actually going and talking to them. They would build the movement because it needs to be us together. And I think the way the referendum process was set up, it was really separative. We had no non-Indigenous faces standing next to us. It looked like it was just a singular Aboriginal thing when in fact it was meant to be an Aussie thing. And that was really lost … politics is like that.
Anderson: 'The Uluru Statement from the Heart was meant as an olive branch, a message of hope. The invitation is to walk with us, a true, sincere invitation. Come with us. This is your place, too. Learn about it, respect it, love it, and we’ll all be fine.'
Davis: 'It’s about trying to bring the Aboriginal identity and Australian identity closer, not apart.'
Picture credit: Uluru 2021 (Wikipedia: Ek2030372672uhhhhh daddy - Own work; CC BY-SA 4.0)
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