10 Nov 2022
MEDIA RELEASE
Hunter Workers has passed a resolution committing to support the ‘Yes’ campaign at the upcoming referendum to enshrine a First Nations Voice in the Australian constitution.
The region’s Union peak body agreed last night at their executive meeting to work closely with the First Nations Workers Alliance and local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders to educate Union members on the Uluru Statement, and the importance of voting ‘yes’ in the referendum.
This commitment continues the long-held support and advocacy Hunter Workers has extended to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Quotes by ACTU Indigenous Office Lara Watson:
“The referendum on a First Nations Voice is an historic opportunity for this country to take a step towards reconciliation which we cannot afford to miss.
The First Nations Voice will give a permanent line of communication for Indigenous peoples to the Australian Government and allow us to have a say on issues that affect us before laws are drafted.
We have seen two centuries of failed policy directed towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples by governments which had little or no engagement with our communities.
The CDP (community development program), the Northern Territory Intervention and other policy failures shows us that without a First Nations Voice, Australian Governments will continue to make policy which disadvantages and disempowers Indigenous people. This has to end.”
Quotes by Hunter Workers Secretary Leigh Shears:
“First Nations workers have called on Hunter Workers support for a Voice to Parliament.
For far too long, governments have excluded First Nations Australians from the process on policies that will affect them. We continue to see the consequences of this and the impact across our communities. Discrimination, wage theft, exploitation, and disadvantage. We now have an opportunity to affect real change. Enough is enough.
It’s the absolute bare minimum to expect our First Australians voices are heard through a genuine process of consultation with Government on laws that will directly affect them.”
First Nations Voice to be Enshrined in the Australian Constitution:
Motion: Hunter Workers has long supported the advancement of matters important to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It is in this continued tradition of working with, advocating for, and walking alongside our first nations people, NTHC Executive commits to the success of a YES Campaign in the upcoming constitutional referendum for a First Nations Voice to Federal Parliament enshrined in the Australian Constitution.
Hunter Workers Executive acknowledges the work of and agrees to work with First Nations Workers Alliance and local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders to activate and educate Union members on the Uluru Statement and the importance of voting YES in the referendum.