While the triumphalist mouthpieces of media barons and conservative political leaders are daily attempting to rally support pronouncing a premature victory for the "no" case in this year's referendum, there's a bigger issue waiting for Australia at year's end.
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Win or lose, the referendum on the proposed Voice to Parliament has changed Australia.
After decades of failed attempts to close the gap, and many historic milestones in Indigenous rights, there is a widespread acceptance among many Australians that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been under-recognised and deserve better health, education and life outcomes.
That's actually really huge.
The genie is out of the bottle. Regardless of the referendum result, the fact that Indigenous issues and recognition have been at the forefront of Australian dialogue throughout much of 2023 provides a range of opportunities for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians that we haven't had before.
Who are we really? You only have to look at the screaming pain that interest rate or cost-of-living rises have inflicted on the majority of Australians, alongside the astonishing salaries of corporate and even government executives to realise that the myth of Australia being the land of the fair go is long dead.
Just ask anyone under-35 looking to buy their first house without a leg-up from the bank of mum and dad.
But who do we want to be? We have a privileged place in the world in terms of national outcomes for gross domestic product, education, even weather. How do we want to share that? This question is at the heart of the Closing the Gap concern. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have lower life expectancy, health outcomes, education outcomes and higher rates of incarceration - amongst a range of other statistics. But Indigenous people also have great potential, widely appreciated in the sporting arena, but allowed opportunities to flourish too frequently in other sectors.
This brings us to the debate of 2023. For much of the year, there has been an intense discussion about the proposed Voice to Parliament. Yes, too much has involved name calling, misinformation and unproductive vitriol, but this is not a radical departure from discussions of many political issues in this country, where positions are passionately held.
The difference is that this issue has occupied the top of news bulletins for much of the year - whereas in other years, discussions of Indigenous issues typically occupies the ho-hum overlooked zone of stories judged worthy but of lower priority in public interest and discussion.
Have a look at the context. Tonight, I as an Indigenous woman, am hosting what will be one of the most tuneful if not the most memorable events discussing the Voice, as Thomas Mayo and Shane Howard intertwine stories, spoken word and song as they discuss their life journeys and how those journeys have shaped their position on Indigenous recognition and the Voice.
This is the University of Canberra's annual Ngunnawal Lecture and it is being held in Old Parliament House. The event is significant because exactly 100 years ago, as Old Parliament House was being planned, Billy Hughes was ending his tenure as Prime Minister of Australia.
Billy was famous for many things, including being a staunch advocate for the White Australia Policy.
In those days the White Australia Policy was accepted as the way Australia should shape its destiny. The Immigration Restriction Act which facilitated it was in force from 1901 to 1958, entrenching discrimination not just against Indigenous people, but also most other races born with a different skin colour.
Just nine years after the Immigration Restriction Act was finally demolished, the nation came together in force to recognise the right of Indigenous people to be counted as Australians in the 1967 referendum.
Only a few years later, Gough Whitlam came to power and poured the famous handful of sand into the hands of Vincent Lingiari, signifying a watershed in land rights recognition.
![Nationals leader David Littleproud, senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, and senator Bridget McKenzie have advocated for a 'no' vote. Picture by Sitthixay Ditthavong Nationals leader David Littleproud, senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, and senator Bridget McKenzie have advocated for a 'no' vote. Picture by Sitthixay Ditthavong](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/pMXRnDj3SUU44AkPpn97sC/c52c4c2b-e34a-4c89-a75f-d929bf8a79c8.jpg/r0_0_5200_2935_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Mabo, Paul Keating's Redfern Speech, the National Apology and other key milestones have followed and now, a century after Billy Hughes was deposed as Australia's leader, I am allowed to run an event in old Parliament House and to help represent and lead the work of an entire University. The Parliament has moved up the hill, but the spirit of change continues to blow through Canberra - and nowhere more than today.
The "no" campaign and the transparent campaign of several conservative media organisations to oppose the referendum have no guarantee yet of success. Personally, I still believe the "yes" campaign can and should win.
But the campaign against my Indigenous voice, and against Indigenous voices in the national media and social media landscape is a pyrrhic one. The government's persistence in moving ahead with the referendum has opened a door to a national discussion on identity, rights and voices, in a way that never could have been envisaged a century ago.
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All Australians will benefit from a revision of our national identity and by revisiting what we are truly aiming to achieve in our communities and as a nation. Only one race of Australians remains subject to special legislation in our Federal Parliament - Indigenous peoples. That's why we need an advisory body to improve the outcomes and impact of those laws. It's a pretty simple proposition.
But once the Voice referendum is done, we need to look beyond. Australians want to take this chance to keep talking about who we are, what we care about, how we can include each other better, how we can share opportunities and the benefits of Australian citizenhood more equitably. That genie is not going away. So a big thanks to the "no" campaign, as well as the "yes" - you've achieved a visibility and discussion about Indigenous recognition and national identity that otherwise might never have occurred.
- Professor Maree Meredith is the pro vice-chancellor of Indigenous leadership at the University of Canberra.