Australian protesters fight Indigenous rights reform known as ‘the Voice’, call it divisive
- A crowd railed against the proposal, which would give Indigenous peoples the right to be consulted on policies that affect them, a measure dubbed ‘the Voice’
- Critics of the reform say it would confer special privileges on Indigenous peoples, add bureaucracy, and that there’s not enough detail about how it would work
Hundreds of protesters rallied in Sydney on Saturday against a plan to adapt Australia’s constitution to enshrine Indigenous rights, ahead of a referendum next month.
The crowd gathered in the city’s Hyde Park railed against the proposal, which if it passes on October 14, would give Indigenous peoples the right to be consulted on policies that affect them, a measure dubbed the Voice.
“I’m here because I believe that everyone should be voting no. This Voice is causing so much division in the whole of Australia. And we don’t need it,” Faye Bevan, who attended the rally, said.
Some protesters held signs with slogans such as “Vote no to the Voice of division” and “I don’t trust the Voice, I’m voting no”. Others carried placards referring to a range of conspiracy ideas, such as about human trafficking and corporate interests.
The rally in Sydney was not part of the official anti-Voice campaign, but was instead linked to Australian anti-vaccination and pro-Putin activist Simeon Boikov – also known as “Aussie Cossack” – who has protested government action on Covid-19.