Lord Mayor’s motion to support a Voice to Parliament passed in latest council meeting

By TILEAH DOBSON

In the latest City of Sydney council meeting, a few key motions were brought up and passed by the council. These motions include the joint motion to ban fossil-fuel ads by Greens Councillor Sylvie Ellsmore and Deputy Lord Mayor Jess Scully, along with the council’s net-zero energy development plan.

One of the bigger motions to have been passed was progressing the Uluru Statement from the Heart by Lord Mayor Clover Moore. Moore had proposed to the council that the City showed its support for the referendum to enshrine an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice in the Australian Constitution.

By conducting a  ‘Yes’ campaign similar to the council’s previous ‘Yes’ campaign for marriage equality back in 2017 for the same-sex survey, Moore hopes to mirror its success for the referendum.

An ambitious goal, as since the formation of the Federation there have been 44 proposals for changes in the Australian Constitution put to the public. Out of the 44, only 8 have been successful. The Lord Mayor believes that the referendum will succeed but that it won’t hurt to boost its chances.

“The Uluru Statement from the Heart has been described as a generous invitation to all Australians. This is our opportunity to respond to this invitation,” Moore said.

With regards to Independent Councillor Yvonne Weldon’s petition for a statue to commemorate Patyegarang and her role in gifting her language to William Dawes, Moore noted that the council “has budgeted for a major public artwork by an Aboriginal artist at Ta-ra (Dawes Point) commemorating the young Aboriginal woman Patyegarang and the gift of her language to William Dawes, as part of Yananurala, including developing a brief with the community, Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council and the NSW Government.”

Councillors who had voted against Cr Weldon’s amendment for a monument had spoken on their concerns “about circumventing the thoughtful, consultative process managed by the City’s Indigenous curators and advisors.”

Parts of the community have also raised their concerns about statues, noting how it’s a very “Western approach to commemoration.”

Indigenous artist Djon Mundine has recently commented on statues, calling them “narcissistic” and was heavily favoured by authoritarian figures throughout history.

“The history of statues belong to empires: Greek, Roman, Chinese, and in the case of Europeans, most probably reached a high point in the late empire years of the 1800s,” he said.

Labor Councillor Linda Scott voiced her support for Moore’s proposal to conduct a ‘Yes’ campaign, saying that “it’s vitally important that the city shows its support.”

“As a Labor Councillor, I’m happy to support the new Labor prime minister and his efforts,” she told City Hub.