Everything You Need to Know about the Voice
Australians will soon be faced with an important choice. Will they vote Yes to change our nation’s Constitution to introduce an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice? Or will they vote No and bring the recognition process to a halt and, along with it, the aspirations of an overwhelming number of Australia’s first peoples? The stakes could not be higher.
In late 2023 Australians will vote in a referendum on enshrining an Indigenous Voice to parliament and government in the Constitution. What benefits will it bring? And what was the journey to this point?
Everything You Need to Know about the Voice, written by co-author of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, Cobble Cobble woman Megan Davis, and fellow constitutional expert George Williams, is essential reading on the Voice to parliament and government, how our Constitution was drafted, what the 1967 referendum achieved, what it left unfinished and the Uluru Statement. This updated edition charts the journey of this nation-building reform from the earliest stages of Indigenous advocacy, explores myths and misconceptions and, importantly, explains how the Voice offers change that will benefit the whole nation.
On page 72 of Everything You Need to Know About the Voice, Evelyn Scott’s heritage was mistakenly noted as Torres Strait Islander. In fact, Evelyn’s heritage was Aboriginal and Vanuatuan. We sincerely apologise for this error.
‘...a vitally important book written for all Australians who have accepted the Uluru invitation and are walking with us in a journey of the Australian people for a better future.’ — Patricia Anderson AO Alyawarre woman
‘... if you want to cut-through the rhetoric, Everything You Need to Know About The Voice will briskly give context to it all.’ — Tasmanian Times
Megan Davis is the Balnaves Chair in Constitutional Law, Director of the Indigenous Law Centre at UNSW Law and Pro Vice-Chancellor at UNSW. She is the leading constitutional lawyer on Indigenous constitutional recognition and was a member of the Prime Minister’s Referendum Council, Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition and the Referendum Working Group. She is a United Nations expert based in the UN Human Rights Council, Geneva and formerly UN New York. She is a Cobble Cobble woman from south-west Queensland.
George Williams AO is the Anthony Mason Professor and a Scientia Professor, as well as a Deputy Vice-Chancellor, at UNSW. He was a member of the Australian government’s Constitutional Expert Group that advised on the wording of the Voice referendum. His books include Australian Constitutional Law and Theory, The Oxford Companion to the High Court of Australia and How to Rule Your Own Country: The Weird and Wonderful World of Micronations. He has appeared as a barrister in the High Court of Australia and is a columnist for The Australian.
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