ANTAR
ANTAR is a trusted Ally and Thought Leader providing Australians with quality information on priorities concerning First Nations rights – sharing with all Australians independent research and analysis. The following correspondence is shared on Vox with permission from ANTAR.
The Voice Referendum this Saturday 14 October is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for national progress and positive change. We are full of hope and there is still time to sway hearts and minds. Join us in standing together with First Nations people and let’s get this done!
ANTAR has stood with First Nations communities for over quarter of a century, with this Saturday marking one year to the day since the launch of our Campaign for Change to actively pursue the implementation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart – Voice, Treaty and Truth.
ANTAR was born from a grassroots movement of Australian people fighting for rights and justice and we are proud to have been part of this community campaign for constitutional recognition through the First Nations Voice.
Senator Patrick Dodson, Father of Reconciliation, who has dedicated his life’s work to fighting for progress for his peoples, is urging Australians “to respond to this referendum with love, trust and kindness for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.” Watch Senator Dodson’s National Press Club address ahead of Saturday’s Referendum.
In these final days we must stand firm in our commitment to help change our nation for the better by recognising First Nations people and saying ‘Yes’ to listening to their Voices.
Millions of Australians are still undecided about how to vote and the people closest to us are mostly likely to listen to us. Now is the time – please reach out to friends and family who are considering how to vote and tell them why it’s so important to vote YES. Log your calls with the Yes23 Campaign (we’re at nearly 860,000 calls so far).
A Million Calls for YESThe need couldn’t be more urgent and the time is now – in the words of the late great Charles Perkins as shared by his daughter Rachel Perkins – we must be bold and ‘grasp the nettle’ with assurance to move forward together.
Whatever the outcome of the Referendum we will say that we gave our all to this fight for recognition and a Voice and that we did so with love and hope for a better future. It is our sincere hope that the Referendum will be a beginning, the start of a new era that centres First Nations Peoples in our national discourse based on respect and self-determination.
Come ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ we will not stop fighting for the rights of our First Nations brothers and sisters – for equity and justice – until the job is done.
Allies for Uluru
The Allies for Uluru Coalition is made up of more than 275 community, non-government and corporate organisations from across the country that have come together to support the implementation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, starting with the establishment of a First Nations Voice to Parliament enshrined in the Constitution.
We’re down to our last 48 hours of the campaign, and we know that these final days are when millions of people will make up their minds.
It has been a long rollercoaster of a journey to this point, building on decades of sustained advocacy by First Nations leaders who have fought relentlessly for the right to have their voices not only heard but deeply listened to. They are continuing to speak out, and we must too.
Each of you have joined that journey, and we thank you for all you’ve done up to this point. The work continues. Our roles in this last 48 hours before Saturday are to saturate the pre-referendum environment with a message of hope, understanding and the importance of deep listening.
The team at Uluru Dialogue have asked that we continue to share the History is Calling and You’re the Voice ads as widely as possible over the next 48 hours.
The polls are starting to show what we’ve known all along: conversations are changing minds. Text or call your friends today and start the conversation. You can help reach a million calls for Yes. There are only 140,000 calls left to go.
If you haven’t already, please also sign up to lend a hand at a polling booth on Saturday with your local Yes group.
As an Allies team, we will be taking Monday to reflect and process. So, while we will go quiet for a few days, rest assured we are still here – in our families, in our communities and in solidarity with all who have struggled to get to this point. We will be in touch soon.
The School’s mission is to encourage the development of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander theologies and ministries, and to decolonise the eurocentric versions of Christianity that remain dominant in this country.
Catholic Theological College
University of Divinity
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