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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
Kerem Doruk

How Canberra's diverse communities could shape Voice outcome

Raised in occupied Palestine, Lama Qasem's perception of Australian politics is filtered through her experience of apartheid. Picture by Gary Ramage

Like many migrant Australians, Lama Qasem wants more information about the Voice to Parliament before she votes in the upcoming referendum.

As a Palestinian who was forced to Jordan from her homeland, she sympathises with the plight of Indigenous people whose culture and lives have been shaped by European colonisation.

Ms Qasem is not sure it's her place to help decide the fate of the Voice given she's only been in Australia for a decade.

"As a non-Indigenous person here in Australia, I don't think it's for me to decide what's best for the First Nations people," she said.

"It's important to have real solutions that tackle the core issues that disadvantage Indigenous people."

But she also wants more information before compulsorily casting her vote on whether a permanent body of First Nations people should advise the Federal Parliament about their decisions.

Lead "no" campaigner and Bundjalung man Nyunggai Warren Mundine sparked controversy when he said migrants should also be recognised in the constitution alongside Indigenous Australians.

Mr Mundine's comments drew attention to how multicultural communities would be engaging with the Voice.

With more than one-quarter of Canberrans born overseas and nearly 30 per cent speaking a language other than English at home, these communities could be crucial to outcome of the Voice in the ACT.

The Voice referendum must capture the support of a majority of electors in a majority of states, and the positions of ethnic community organisations on the Voice have been subject to analysis by researchers.

Research by JWS suggests culturally and linguistically diverse groups are slightly more supportive of the Voice than the general population (55 per cent to 51 per cent), but they are less likely to recall being exposed to information information about it.

JWS founder John Scales said researchers for the "yes" and "no" campaigns had told him multicultural groups were not motivated to support the Voice by righting historical wrongs or the burden of historical guilt the same way some white Australians were.

"It differs from the people who have been here for generations, who have an attachment to colonisation," Mr Scales said.

The Australian-Chinese community shares a history of oppression with Indigenous communities stretching back to the gold rush. Picture supplied

ACT Chinese-Australia Association patron Sam Wong said Chinese migrants had strong cultural bonds with Indigenous communities forged in the wake of colonial persecution.

Chinese communities have already experienced a previous referendum relating to Indigenous rights in 1967. Their support for Indigenous recognition in the constitution remained affirmative, Mr Wong said.

"Most of the European invasions happened while the Chinese migrants were in the gold mines, we had marriages and there is a lot of respected cooperation between the two communities," Mr Wong said

"Supporting them for the Voice is something that is automatic for the Chinese-Australian community. People don't realise that among the migrant population the Chinese community have the best friendship with First Nations people."

National co-convenor of the Greens' First Nations Network Tjanara Goreng Goreng wants further progress on all three elements outlined in the Uluru Statement from the Heart: truth; treaty and voice. Picture by James Croucher

Former ACT Senate candidate for the Greens Tjanara Goreng Goreng revealed her position on the Voice was "no".

Ms Goreng Goreng said she would not be backing the Greens' party room in the "yes" referendum campaign because it does not include the three elements outlined in the Uluru Statement from the Heart: truth; treaty and voice.

"I'm part of the Blak Greens and our position as group is 'no'. We made a consensus position about our policy four years ago," she said.

"The Blak Greens don't like it - we're unhappy about it but we accept that what's they had to do."

While Ms Goreng Goreng supports Indigenous leaders driving the referendum campaign, she said both sides of the debate had been polarising.

"It's a very difficult position for all of us to be in. Even though the Labor government think they're doing the right thing, the Voice referendum is creating icy bonds between people," she said.

Canberra Multicultural Community Forum deputy chair Diana Abdel Rahman said there was a need for more information about the Voice from both sides of the referendum for multicultural communities.

The Canberra Multicultural Community Forum held a panel discussion led by Indigenous leaders from the "yes" and "no" campaigns.

Many people from Australia's new diverse communities had never met an Indigenous person before, Ms Abdel-Rahman said.

Ms Abdel-Rahman said meeting Indigenous people and listening to their stories was key to informing and developing their position on the Voice to Parliament.

"They've seen them on TV, they have heard about them but they have never actually met an Indigenous person," she said.

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