Palaver has created a website with free, fair and trustworthy information about the proposed Voice to Parliament and referendum. See:

Press Release

Introducing The Voice, A question to the people, a free, fair, ideology-free resource to help Australians decide how to vote (www.voicetoparliament.info).

The upcoming referendum to alter the Australian Constitution to introduce a First Nations Voice to Parliament is an important moment in the history of our country. While there is widespread agreement about some of the issues raised by it, there is disagreement and uncertainty about many others.

A variety of views has been expressed, many well-informed and helpful, others less so. Questions have been raised about how the Voice might be implemented practically, about the significance of calls for more detail, and about whether the Voice could undermine the power of the parliament or undermine Indigenous sovereignty and whether it will lead to legal challenges.

This is an important debate but there is a risk that it will be distracted by political rhetoric and partisan ideologies. Never has it been more important for Australians to talk respectfully to each other, examine the evidence and arguments, and make up our minds on the basis of what is best for the country and each other.

“If we engage in a respectful conversation about the Voice we will collectively be able to attend to the next step of the unfinished business of this land. If we do not have respectful conversations, there is a risk that the question will not be settled, unhealable wounds will persist, and conflict and division will continue into the future, and be passsed on to generations to come”, said Professor Lisa Jackson Pulver, of Sydney University, one of the book’s editors.

To help calm the debate and empower Australians to make up their minds responsibly we have assembled a resource that presents both sides of the argument fairly and in a non-partisan manner. The work is being offered free to everyone as a downloadable pdf or a ChatGPT-searchable on-line text. It can be accessed at www.voicetoparliament.info.

“The book aims to facilitate a respectful and informed debate. It takes no position of its own, except that factual claims must be based on evidence and that decisions must be motivated by a commitment to achieve the best result for the nation”, said Professor Paul Komesaroff, of Monash University.

The work has been produced without any external funding as a public service to help enable the Voice debate to move to a careful, balanced, fair consideration of the issues. You are invited to go to www.voicetoparliament.info to access this work.

The Voice, A question to the people, edited by Paul Komesaroff, Maeve Ryan, Paul James, Lisa Jackson Pulver and Sally Gardner (Palaver, 2023). www.voicetoparliament.info

Contact details for further information: Prof Paul Komesaroff: paul.komesaroff@monash.edu; 0417 55 26 59; or Prof Lisa Jackson Pulver: lisa.jackson-pulver@sydney.edu.au

News & Announcements

The Unsent Condolences was launched at Unity Books, Wellington Aotaeroa New Zealand on March 20th by Behrouz Boochani in the presence of an audience of journalists, writers, members of the public, members of government and non-government organisations, and academics.

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