Greens senator and DjabWurrung Gunnai Gunditjmara woman Lidia Thorpe was met with cheers from the public in Melbourne when she said Indigenous Australians deserved “real power and action” rather than the proposed Voice.
A referendum on whether to constitutionally enshrine the advisory body is due to be held later this year but Thorpe said First Nations people deserve something more powerful.
“We are sovereign and this is our land, and we deserve better than an advisory body,” Thorpe said.
“They want to put the colonial constitution on top of the oldest constitution on the planet. Our constitution comes from the soil.
“We have an opportunity to have a treaty … that could put 10 independent Black seats in the parliament today.
“We have had enough. We want real power and we won’t settle for anything less.”
Thorpe yesterday reached a formal deal with her party to vote against the Voice proposal if and when the Greens decide to support it, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
Some speakers during an Invasion Day rally at Sydney’s Belmore Park also urged people to vote against the Voice.
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Speaking in Canberra before Thorpe’s speech, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he wouldn’t be drawn into “partisan politics, whether it’s Lidia Thorpe or others”.
“(Recognition) is something missing from our nation’s constitution, and I say this, if not now when?” he said.
“If not now, when will this change occur?
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“And if not the people of Australia this year, who will make this change, which will improve our country, improve our national unity?
“And this is an opportunity for Australia, it’s one that I sincerely hope that Australia doesn’t miss.”
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