YOUR SAY: The Voice referendum is the Prime Minister's personal crusade

If you look up Warren Nyunggai Mundine and Jacinta Nampijinpa Price in Wikipedia you will find they are both well-qualified to speak about Aboriginal people in this country. The First Nations people are already adequately represented.

The referendum is a personal crusade of Anthony Albanese and he thinks if he can pull this off he will go down in history.

It saddens me to see the "no" case for the referendum being driven by individuals with a negative self-indulgent perspective without any thought for the future of the collective communities.

I owe it to the Bakandji, Pitjantjatjara, Luritja, Bundjalung communities and others with whom I have worked, to vote "yes" in the forthcoming referendum giving the First Nations people a voice.

This would put them on the same standing as farmers, seniors, small business, miners, unions, large business, faith groups to name but a few registered groups, that all have a voice with the Federal Parliament.

All groups, including First Nations people, should have a voice so that the federal government can listen and then pass the relevant legislation that would best serve us all.

It is time for us all to put negativity and misinformation aside and work towards a positive "yes" outcome.

In sections 51 and 68 of the Australian constitution there are only seven lines of text that cover defence of the nation. There are no details relating to conscription, women in the forces, nuclear weapons, aligning with foreign powers, military training academies, an air force, or any other of the many aspects of defence that are defined by the government to suit the conditions prevailing at the time.

If the referendum on the Voice is successful, it will insert three short paragraphs in the constitution which will allow Aboriginal peoples to advise the government on issues relating to them. As is the case with defence, all the details will be decided by the government to suit the conditions prevailing at the time. The government will not be obliged to do what the Voice requests.

If seven lines of text in the constitution cover defence, surely there is enough information available to make a considered choice in the referendum. The details can be found by searching Fact sheet: Referendum question and constitutional amendment. The Voice.

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