On Wednesday, a group of students and faculty members assembled outside Fisher Library in a rally to support the Voice to Parliament and condemn “the racism of the No campaign.”
Co-chaired by Shovan Bhattarai and Rose Donnelly, students and campaigners came together to “take a stand against the anti-Indigenous racism spewing from powerful bigots” who have opposed the Voice.
Attendees heard from Conservatorium First Nations Officer and Yuin/Gumbaynggirr woman Cianna Walker, Indigenous Community Engagement Officer and NTEU member Jeremy Heathcote, SRC Education Officer Yasmine Johnson, and Wiradjuri Wailwan activist Ethan Floyd.
Walker declared that voting in favour of constitutional recognition would be a “significant step” that would “make a meaningful difference,” and further the “creation, survival and resilience” of Indigenous communities.
Heathcote’s speech focussed on the silence of University management, saying that — in contrast to faculties like Medicine and Health, Law, and Arts — other faculties and “our own University management haven’t come out in support of the Voice.” He spoke further about how “Aboriginal staff and student numbers are still too low,” and how the University needs to take a clear position in support of the Voice.
Education Officer Yasmine Johnson’s comments were perhaps the clearest fulfilment of the event’s charge to “condemn the racism of the No Campaign,” condemning those who don’t support the Voice, declaring that they sought to “drive things backward for the oppressed” and that anti-Voice and anti-Indigenous rhetoric is an “indictment of the society we live in.”
Finally, Floyd declared that the Voice was a “moral question” that asks Australians “what kind of people are we?’ and to self-reflect on the opportunity for a “vocal, grassroots” change that support for the Voice would achieve. Floyd further argued that a No vote would mean the country had “failed the character test,” and that First Nations people will have “failed the judgement test” by placing their faith in Australians.
Following the speeches, demonstrators marched to F23 to, as Donnelly put it in a comment to Honi, “show student support for the Voice to Parliament,” “regain energy” for the campaign, and condemn University administrators for their “lack of support” for causes students believe in.
With the referendum coming up this Saturday October 14, this rally offered the student body the chance to hear from speakers, “support the campaign” and, “show that racism has no place in our society.”