“Sovereignty before Voice”: Invasion Day protest organisers say no to referendum

By ERIN MODARO

As protestors gathered on Gadigal land in Belmore Park on January 26, a sign hung by protest organisers conveyed a message that is new to 2023’s rally. The sign hanging across the stage where First Nations speakers gave speeches about Invasion Day read ‘Vote No to Referendum’ and ‘We Deserve More Than a Voice’.

Protest organisers announced they were calling on the Albanese government to “abandon the proposed referendum on a Voice to Parliament”, which they are calling a “powerless advisory body”.

“Sovereignty before Voice”, the theme of the rally, brought attention to the unceded sovereignty of Aboriginal land, with land rights and the end to Indigenous deaths in custody points of focus. With a state election on the horizon, and the Albanese government launching its yes campaign, the annual Invasion day protest was accompanied by the message that not all First Nations groups are backing the Voice.

“Fallacy” of constitutional recognition: Lynda June Coe

NSW upper house candidate and activist Lynda June Coe criticised the Labor government’s push for a referendum. Similar sentiment was shown by speakers at the rally in Melbourne.

“Brisbane, Melbourne, we are all mobilising against the fallacy that is constitutional recognition,” Coe said to the crowd. 

The referendum will see Australians vote on whether the Australian constitution should be amended to include a formal Indigenous Voice in Parliament. Coe, along with other speakers, expressed that a Voice was not the right direction for political and social reconciliation in Australia.

“First nations constitution is the oldest constitution on the planet,” Coe said. “That is the recognition that needs to happen.”

#InvasionDay march down Broadway #Sydney. #AlwaysWasAlwaysWillBe pic.twitter.com/ddFgthssm5

— Pauline Lockie (@paulinelockie) January 26, 2023

The rally comes at a time when data published by The Age suggests that support for the referendum is slipping. In the wake of the Nationals affirming they would be voting ‘no’, support for the Voice has dropped from 53% to 47% in recent weeks.

Coe said in a statement that First Nations people “have never protested and demanded for an advisory body that is subservient to [government]”.

Sydney protest co-organiser, activist and Dunghutti, Gumbaynggirr, Bundjalung woman, Auntie Lizzie Jarrett, said that she wanted people to understand that “the referendum is not for us”.

“Every day I am on the front lines of this war, dealing with community and family members getting locked up and killed in custody, children being stolen,” Jarrett said.

“How can we have a Voice to Parliament when we are still at war with the parliament?”

Greens Senators have ‘agreed to disagree’ on the Voice after Senator Lidia Thorpe was given reign to formally vote no, after she has called the Voice a “wasted exercise”. The Greens are predicted to be divided over the topic in the coming months.

Local Sydney councils have expressed their support for the Voice through launching civic training programs to inform the public about what the referendum might mean. The Inner West Council announced last year that it would be partnering with Sydney Alliance and recruiting 1000 volunteers to build awareness.

Protestors condemn violence and genocide

While the theme of the protest remained strong across speakers, protestors young and old gathered to remember what January 26 marks for First Nations peoples.

“Always was, always will be Aboriginal land” was chanted by the crowd, along with “What do we want? Land rights!”.

Paul Silva, Dunghutti man and nephew of David Dungay Junior who was killed in police custody in late 2015, spoke of his uncle’s death and called for an end to Indigenous deaths in custody. 

“We will not celebrate land theft, murder and rape on the 26th of January, or any day,” Silva said. He said that even if the date of Australia Day was moved from January 26, he still would not support it. 

“We demand independent investigations to indigenous deaths in custody.”

Protestors held signs calling for ‘Land Rights, Justice Now’, and ‘No Pride in Genocide’. Signs showing the faces of First Nations people who had been killed in police custody were laid out on the grass.