Australians so resoundingly rejected the Voice in Saturday’s referendum that the result was known by 90 minutes of polling booths closing. In a week of horrible news of atrocities being committed by Hamas against the Israeli people, this was a welcome turn of events. So was the result of the New Zealand general election.
So we’ve said ‘No’ to a Voice being enshrined in the Australian Constitution. What next? What was the Voice trying to achieve? That is arguable given how much obfuscation there was around it. But one thing is sure; there needs to be an enquiry into how funds for indigenous services are being spent. Why is there so much money thrown at problems concerning violence and family breakdown among the Aboriginal population with not nearly enough positive change for them, especially in remote areas? This question has been raised by Peter Dutton and Jacinta Nampijinpa Price. They are planning to set up an enquiry. I trust that there will be bilateral support for it including from the Prime Minister.
Ten guesses as to what the problem might be. A clue – the ACT was the only state or territory to have a majority ‘Yes’ vote for the Voice. The ACT is a town of public servants. We call them public servants in Australia. Brits know the public service as the civil service. So, can we guess where the funds for Indigenous Australians might be going? Here’s my guess:
A bloated and ever-growing public service.
The funds are being used to expand departments dealing with the issue. Money is being thrown at the problem but the problem is not being solved. So find out what IS happening to the money.
I have nothing against most public servants. I have had friends who were public servants. Heck, I was a public servant myself somewhere back in my past. The public servants I worked with were mostly lovely people but all it needs for bad outcomes is one malevolent player in the system – very malevolent. And of course they exist in just about every sphere of life with the public service no exception.
Margaret Thatcher once said:
If you create a department to deal with a problem, the problem never goes away.
The Voice was to be some form of a whole new ‘department’. Thank goodness the referendum result put closure to that. Now let’s hope that through politicians turning their attention to an enquiry over the scandal of continuing issues for indigenous Australians despite huge funding, some clear answers can emerge. It is an area that is fraught with charges of ‘racism’ over every helpful act so let’s keep an eye on this issue into the future. The malvolent just love using the cry of racism. Virtue signalling and malevolence all wrapped up in one helpful slogan.
Our World Our Faith 