A senior Greek Indigenous Australian leader in Darwin believes most Indigenous people in the Northern Territory will not support the Voice to Parliament.
Many people, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have claimed that more than 80 per cent of Indigenous Australians will support the Voice, but chair of the Gwalwa Dariniki Association Helen Secretary has rejected said claim.
“That’s their views but I can tell you a majority of Indigenous people (don’t support it) and that’s why they don’t really want to include the Northern Territory, because a lot of them don’t understand this and they are continuing to ask for a Treaty,” she told Sky News Australia.
It is reported that this claim of 80 per cent support comes from a YouGov survey taken in March and Opsos poll in January, but the Larrakia and Tiwi woman says she doubts they spoke to many Indigenous people in NT.
“A lot of them don’t understand it,” she said.
“They don’t understand fully what’s going on.”
Secretary, whose father was a Greek immigrant, says she doesn’t support it herself, labelling it as “wrong” for many reasons.
She believes it is dividing the nation, which she says is a “proud” and “multicultural” country.
“We already have senators and Indigenous parliamentarians from the Territory that have been sitting in Parliament that are supposed to be our voice.”
She said it would be impossible for a national Voice to represent hundreds of different clan groups, as no one tribe could speak for another.
“Our Larrakia people wanted a Treaty, and a Treaty negotiating with the Federal Government and the Commonwealth so they can decide and be their own voice on their own country to achieve economic development,” she said.
She says a treaty would give her people control over their own affairs and while many who support a treaty believe reparations should be paid to Aboriginal people, she isn’t looking for financial gain.
“My kids work for their money,” she said.
“They don’t say because I’m Indigenous I want rent, I want compensation. We work for our money.”
She again argues that not all Indigenous are the same, so why should one voice speak for them all.
“If the Federal Government wants a voice, talk to the different tribes that live on country on what their dreams (are) of creating economic development, work with them, give them a Treaty,” she said.
“They are their own voice. We are our own voice, why should we have a voice that’s in parliament, a new voice, with this referendum to say ‘this is what all Indigenous people want because they’re disadvantaged, well we’re not.”
