voting No to the Voice

Australia is at a Crossroads: Voting Yes Will Change Us Forever and Not for the Good

11 October 2023

10.3 MINS

The following is an excerpt from my book Voice Treaty Truth: Has the Christian Voice Been Heard? I have written this book because I felt the urging of the Lord, and I wrote it in two weeks, which is a miracle. Ezekiel 3:18 says that if you don’t warn regarding wickedness, the blood is on your hands. Norman and I were given a prophetic word about 25 years ago that we were watchmen over the nation in the area of reconciliation.

We are not saying that those who vote Yes or are promoting the Yes case in the Voice referendum are promoting wickedness. However, a Yes vote will reverse most of the progress in this nation towards reconciliation and is a threat to our Judeo-Christian heritage and Australian democracy.

We support the recognition of First Nations people in the constitution and Closing the Gap, and more effective support for marginalised First Nations people, but not via the Voice to Parliament and executive government.

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“Australia is at a crossroads. Is it a racist nation? Will reconciliation ever be possible? Will it be divided forever? Will we have two classes of citizens, Indigenous and non-Indigenous after the Voice Referendum on October 14? Do we have to deal with the original sin of colonisation as the foundation of Australia from which we can never have redemption or forgiveness?

I am amazed that Australia is facing the same charges as Israel, that we are a racist settler colonialist nation. We are not being threatened with being wiped off the map like Israel, but we are being accused of being here illegally if we are not First Nations people, i.e., Indigenous.

Is separatism the way forward? Or can Australia heal after this divisive debate over the Voice to Parliament and executive government referendum? We are fighting for the very heart of Australia. We are soul-searching about who we really are as a nation, what we want to be, and our vision of the future.

We are told that whether we are black or white, First Nations or non-Indigenous, if we vote yes, we are enshrining racism in the constitution, and if we vote no, we are racist and ignorant. Years of work for reconciliation and to build a multicultural, cohesive society in Australia are at risk.

After all this talk of inclusion and diversity, will we end up with a body in the Australian constitution that is exclusive to one race? Or Indigeneity? Or heritage? Or the first arrival of ancestors? On October 14, 2023, we are being asked to vote on a change to the constitution to recognise First Nations people via a Voice to make representations to the parliament and executive government. This is not just on matters that relate to them but matters that relate to us all, as of course, they are part of Australia. As First Nations people constitute 3.8 % of the population, some people are concerned about this.

This is a momentous decision. It can only be changed by a referendum where a majority of citizens and a majority of states vote to make the change, and then it will be enshrined in the constitution forever. Or at least until another referendum is held. Referendums are notoriously hard to secure change in Australia. Now, it is looking like it will be defeated, as the polls show the Yes vote has been trending downward for the last few months.

But what kind of forces are at work here? What kind of spiritual dynamics are at play? What are the motivations hidden or otherwise of each side of the argument?

But first, why am I writing this? After all, you can read developments of the Voice every day in the newspaper or every night on TV, and a few books have been written about it. Nevertheless, there is a lot of confusion about it. Families are divided about how to vote. Friends are divided. People of faith are divided, and we still have a considerable number of undecided voters. And it is only a few days away.

I believe it is a struggle between progressive and conservative worldviews and narratives. It is a divide between left and right. And that divide is in the Christian church as well as in society. I come from a Christian background and am a white Australian. I have been pastoring a church for 27 years with my Aboriginal husband, Norman Miller.

Norman is of the Jirrbal, Bar-barrum and Wadjanbarra Yidinji tribes of the Herberton and Atherton Tableland areas of north Queensland, and he does not support the Voice.

I am also a sociologist and former psychologist. So, I am used to looking at the interplay of personal and social issues in a situation. I also look at things from a spiritual viewpoint. However, I don’t come to this topic of the Voice as a dispassionate observer. I have a long history of activism in Aboriginal affairs (over 50 years).

All People Are Equal

It is a basic and significant tenet of Judeo-Christian belief that all men and women are created equal. All human beings are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-28). We have also been created of one blood. That is, if you cut a First Nations person or a non-Indigenous person, you will still see red blood flow. Our skin colour might be different, and our life experiences may be different, but we are the one humanity. Acts 17:26 says,

“From one man He made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.”

Revelation 7:9 suggests that even in heaven, while we will be rejoicing as one body, our ethnic origins will be noticeable but not make any difference,

“After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.”

In light of this, it is a concern that if the Voice is enshrined in the constitution, it will create inequality before the law in Australia with a group rights body based on race or ethnicity or ancestry, or first arrival having a special right to advise the government on law and policy which will affect all Australians.

Justice is an essential element of the Judeo-Christian faith

Throughout the Old Testament or Old Covenant (Tenach), God continually tells His people through the prophets that He is a God of justice and grieves if people are treated badly. Some of my favourite verses are Amos 5:24,

“But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” and

“Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Mercy and truth go before Your face.” (Psalm 89:14)

This shows us that justice is not just a peripheral issue for God, but central to Him. Righteousness and justice work together. There are many more, but Isaiah 58 is particularly pertinent, where God says that He would rather have people treat others justly than receive worship or fasting, which is lip service. Isaiah 58:6 says,

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?”

How, then, does this relate to the Voice? We have both adverse and positive effects of colonization and racism in Australia. While there is enormous goodwill towards First Nations people and billions spent on dealing with disadvantage, disparity remains, particularly in remote areas that are not serviced as well as cities. There are many well-intentioned First Nations and non-Indigenous people working to improve this situation, including churches concerned about social justice.

The Bible is about fair treatment of others, not oppressing them. That fair treatment could be a case for treating people who need help not based on race, but based on need.

I have attended Australia Day rallies of First Nations people for many years. My husband Norman and I spent a year in Brisbane in 1995. I had been invited to move from Cairns to Brisbane to work as a psychologist for Teen Challenge, and it fell through. That was a big blow as we had rented out our house in Cairns, which we were paying off, and Norman had left his job in Cairns working at the Bama Healing Centre helping Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders who had alcohol issues. We had been on the ministry team of a large Pentecostal church in Cairns. The scripture that confirmed our move to Brisbane was Jeremiah 29:11.

We said, “Lord, we thought we heard from You?” He took us back to the scripture and emphasised the word, “for I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and give you a future and a hope.” We both sensed that as long as God knew the plans He had for us, we didn’t need to ourselves and should just trust Him. It turned out to be a difficult year financially, but a rewarding year as we received training in the prophetic and started our journey of Jewish-Christian reconciliation. But that is another story.

When our house became available again, we packed up, ready to drive back to Cairns. But first, we attended the Australia Day rally on January 26 in Brisbane and then hit the road. There was an aggressive tone from many of the First Nations speakers. I was used to this, but I pondered it in the car on the way back and prayed to understand why there was some disturbance in my spirit. I prayed, Lord, they just want justice.

Then, a revelation hit me, which I believe was from the Lord. We had just arrived in Townsville, and there had been a lot of rain. It was cyclone season, and a lot of water was on the road. We were probably unwise to drive through the water in our little car, but we made it. So, what was this earth-shattering revelation? The Lord told me there is a counterfeit spirit of justice, and it could be discerned by the spirit behind it. If the spirit behind the work for justice is one of punishment, revenge, retribution, hatred, etc., then that was coming from a counterfeit spirit of justice.

How, then, do we apply that to the Voice? A key architect of the Voice, Professor Marcia Langton, has called the No campaign for the Voice racist and ignorant.

“Every time the No cases raise their arguments, if you start pulling it apart, you get down to base racism, I’m sorry to say that’s where it lands, or sheer stupidity.”

Another key Voice architect, Noel Pearson, has criticised Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, a key leader of the no campaign, as a redneck punching down on her people. Nick White for the Daily Mail said,

“The land rights activist claimed Senator Price was caught in a ‘redneck celebrity vortex’ and was being used by shadowy right-wing forces to ‘punch down on other blackfellas.’”

However, the No campaign has not engaged in character assassination. At least some of the leaders of the Yes campaign, wanting justice as they see it, have come in the wrong spirit, a spirit of counterfeit justice.

Peace or Retribution?

As the Voice is part one of the three-part call of the Uluru Statement from the Heart of Voice Treaty Truth, the treaty being Makarrata, let’s have a look at the meaning of that word.

Makarrata is not just another word for treaty, reported Luke Pearson, in ABC News, 9 August 2017.

Makarrata has so many layers of meaning,” says Merrikiyawuy Ganambarr-Stubbs, a Gumatj woman and principal of Arnhem Land’s Yirrkala School.

“The first one, and the main one, is peace after a dispute.

Makarrata literally means a spear penetrating, usually the thigh, of a person that has done wrong… so that they cannot hunt anymore, that they cannot walk properly, that they cannot run properly; to maim them, to settle them down, to calm them — that’s Makarrata.”

This meaning did not draw much interest at the time, but with the Voice debate, it has become significant. This would suggest that making a makarrata between First Nations peoples and other Australians would have the intent to punish them for doing wrong and to maim them so as not to cause Indigenous people any more trouble. It could be seen as justice or retribution, depending on who is throwing the spear.

As Christians, Whose Voice Should We Listen To?

Well, of course, we should listen to the voices of other people, no matter what race, nationality, etc. they are. We especially want to listen to the voices of those who are in need and help where we can. However, we need to hear God’s voice over the top of all the other voices, many of them conflicting.

It’s not always easy to hear God’s voice, but by reading scripture regularly, we get to know if something we hear lines up with the word of God or not. If we pray to and worship God regularly, we will get to know God’s heart and the Spirit behind scripture. God’s voice is not always the loudest. We need to take time apart, be quiet, and hear the still, small voice of God.

Jesus said that His sheep hear His voice, and that is important as He will guide us. As Christians, we need to pray about the Voice and how we will vote at the Voice referendum and discern if it aligns with scripture and the heart of God. We need to take time out from our busy lives to do this, as it is a momentous decision for our nation, and we are accountable before God for our actions. Jesus says,

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow Me:

And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.”

(John 10:27-28)

As we hear His voice, we will likely see that God is a God of love, unity, and peace, not a God of division and conflict. He reconciles us to Himself, and he urges us to reconcile ourselves to others. He also gives us the ministry and message of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5). But we will come back to that.

We need to hear the voices of Indigenous people who have been so marginalised, but there are already 11 Indigenous MPs in parliament and many national Indigenous organisations in health, education, legal services, native title, housing, etc. The Coalition of Peaks speaks for over 80 peak First Nations organisations, and it is estimated that thousands of First Nations organisations in Australia get consulted with. We don’t need another expensive bureaucracy. We need better help on the ground.

In fact, No campaigners like Nyunggai Warren Mundine, AO and Jacinta Nampijinpa Price have even said that the proposal for a Voice is founded on a lie, because there are already so many Voices. What the government needs to do is to listen to the Voices that are already advising it. Also, they should not just choose which voices they want to hear, i.e., those who say what the government wants to hear and those who will vote for them. Some cynical observers say that the big push to get First Nations people and young people enrolled to vote in the referendum will likely increase the vote for the current government in the next federal election.

If successful, the Voice will introduce a race-based or ancestry/heritage-based body into the constitution, which is therefore discriminatory and goes against the equality of law in a democracy. It will have the power to advise not just the government but the executive or public service, etc., on anything not just Indigenous affairs. This could greatly delay government decision-making and end up in High Court challenges. Very little detail is available, so we are meant to give a blank cheque.”

Norman and I will be voting no. See the Sky News coverage on Pastor Norman Miller’s position:

Also, see the book Voice Treaty Truth: Has the Christian Voice Been Heard? 

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