No matter how you look at it, history is yet to be written. Australians will soon go to the polls to vote in a referendum and one way or another, regardless of the outcome, it will change the course of this country and its relationship with First Nations people. Australians will be asked to vote yes or no to amend the Constitution to recognize Australia’s first peoples by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. Since the 1980s and 90s, constitutional recognition has been the dominant issue within Indigenous affairs. This is a topic that has been on our minds for a very long time. And this has sparked heated discussions and debates among Indigenous Australians. Some for and some against. AdvertisementADVERTISEMENTThe last attempt to recognize First Nations in the Constitution was in 1999, when a referendum was held to make Australia a republic. There was the additional question of inserting a preamble into the Constitution that would recognize Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the original inhabitants of the country. As we know, that referendum failed, and constitutional recognition was pending. Meanwhile, Indigenous Australians have had various forms of representation in the federal government over the years, including the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC), the National Indigenous Council (NIC) and the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples. All were abolished by the governments of the day and Indigenous Australians have had no national representative body since then. However, although the existence of a national representative body was absent, constitutional recognition was still on the agenda. And in 2010, former Prime Minister Julia Gillard established the Expert Council for Constitutional Recognition, which had the task of guiding the government on this issue. In 2012, he submitted a report with recommendations on how recognition should happen and options for a successful referendum. In 2015, the Referendum Council was established, which continued the work of the Expert Committee and continued extensive consultations throughout the country through regional dialogues. This culminated in the National Constitutional Convention held at Uluru in 2017, where the Uluru Declaration from the Heart emerged with the key recommendation that the Indigenous voice in Parliament be built into our nation’s founding document. AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT The two hundred and fifty delegates who attended the Convention agreed that substantial constitutional changes and structural reforms were needed in the form of a Voice, along with the Makrara Commission for Conciliation and Truth Telling. In late 2017, then-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull rejected the Referendum Council’s recommendations and his proposal for Parliament’s Voice, saying it was a big idea but lacking in detail and would fail in a referendum. (He has since given his support to Glas and the referendum.) But the process did not end with Mr Turnbull’s rejection. In comes Scott Morrison as the new Prime Minister, tasking Ken Wyatt, whom he appointed as Minister for Indigenous Australians, to embark on a process of co-designing Voice for Government. The culmination of that process led to what is known as the Calma Langton Report 2021, which detailed a proposed structure for local and regional voices to provide advice to the National Voice to advise the government. In 2022 we witnessed a change of government and the newly elected Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, in his victory speech fully committed to the Uluru Declaration and holding a referendum within the next 12 months. We are now at a time when Australians are thinking about how they will vote when they go to the polls in October. Both the Yes and No campaigns are in full swing and there is a wealth of information to consider in the coming weeks. AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT While Australians ponder what this means for our nation, on the other side of the world the Sámi people, the indigenous people of Norway, have had their own parliament for more than three decades. Before the Sámi Parliament was established in 1989, the Sámi people had their own struggles for representation and recognition. For many years they had different groups advising the Norwegian government on Sámi issues. After a controversial plan to build a dam on Sámi land, which met with strong opposition from the Sámi, it was decided that a democratically elected body was needed to advise the government. Unlike the proposal in Australia, the Sámi Parliament was established through an Act of Parliament in 1987. It also receives funding for various projects, which would not be the case with Australia’s Voice to Parliament if it succeeds in a referendum. However, the composition of the Sámi Parliament is very similar to the model proposed for our Indigenous People’s Voice Parliament. The parliament itself has 39 elected representatives from seven constituencies and has a president. Elections are held every four years and only those who have proven their Sámi ancestry are allowed to vote. On a recent trip to Norway to film a story on the Sámi Parliament for SBS Date line program, I met with Sámi people from different walks of life to understand how their parliament works and whether it has been beneficial to their people. The Sámi Parliament plays a key role in advising the Norwegian government on matters concerning the Sámi people. To an outside observer, the Sámi Parliament appears to have made significant progress in revitalizing its language and culture. They also went through a process of truth telling and reconciliation. The Norwegian government has also officially recognized the Sámi as the country’s indigenous people. And Sámi is now the official second language of Norway. AdvertisementADVERTISEMENTS I was lucky enough to witness the Sámi teaching the language and passing it on to future generations. In the northern city of Tromsø, I met Matti, a former security guard and bodybuilder who retrained to become a kindergarten teacher through an initiative of the Sámi Parliament. He now plays a key role in keeping the language alive by teaching infants and his own children to speak the Sámi language. There was a time when the Sámi were not allowed to speak their language or practice their culture. For Matti, teaching a language that was under threat is something that fills him and his family with immense pride. The Sami had many victories on the surface. But like Australia’s First Nations, the Sámi have been affected by colonization and the road to recognition and listening has not been easy. Sámi Parliament Speaker Silje Karine Muotka told me that while it was important to have a seat at the decision-making table, parliament was struggling to be heard on the issue of land rights. As Norway pursues net zero consumption and renewable energy, the ancient Sámi tradition of reindeer husbandry is under threat. Reindeer are very special to the Sámi and their breeding is a successful traditional practice that has been part of Sámi life for thousands of years. I met with reindeer breeder Reiulf who is in a fight with a green energy company. Reiulf has more than 60 wind turbines on his land, and this changes the landscape and where his animals can fall during the winter. This affects his livelihood and he is not sure if he can continue his work. He told me that many Sámi reindeer like him are struggling.AdvertisementADVERTISEMENTWhile Reiulf’s case is deadlocked, another case went all the way to the Norwegian Supreme Court. In 2021, two reindeer herders with the support of the Sámi Parliament sued the green energy company Fosen in court. The court ruled that the wind farm should be demolished because it violated the cultural rights of the Sámi by disturbing their pastures. But despite the verdict and all the efforts of the Saami Parliament, the wind farm remains, and their fight continues. The President himself admits that Parliament needs more powers and to strengthen its position if it is to affect real change on issues such as land rights. Considering their history and the position the Sámi once had in society, I believe that their parliament has greatly improved the Sámi people. It may not be a perfect model and there will always be challenges and criticisms, but it is a unique concept not enjoyed by many other First Nations around the world. Reflecting after returning from my trip to Norway, Sámi President Silje Karine Muotka said some very relevant words that stuck in my memory. She reiterated that Indigenous peoples must be able to express their opinions and that their perspectives must be taken into account when designing policies and programs that affect us because it is our right as First Nations people to decide our own destiny. She also highlighted how much power the Voice of Parliament will have and whether it will be able to effectively address the very real issues facing First Nations. AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT In reporting on this topic over the past year and watching the debate, I think people have a lot of questions. If the referendum is successful and the vote of Parliament is incorporated into the constitution, how much power will it really have in bringing about positive outcomes for our First Nations people? Is having a voice in parliament better than the status quo? And, if the referendum fails, what comes next? How will the shortcomings of the native population be solved? In any case, what will the outcome say about Australia as a nation and its treatment of First Nations people? It will be a defining moment in our history.Karla Grant is a Walkley Award-winning journalist, presenter and producer and one of the most respected First Nations reporters on Australian television. The Western Arrernte woman is also the host of the country’s longest-running Indigenous show, Living Blackwhich recently aired its 30th season on SBS.This special episode of Dateline, Sami voice, premieres Tuesday 19 September at 9.30pm on SBS and SBS On Demand and in October on NITV.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education