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This town voted No in 1967. Aboriginal Elders feel 'disappointed' by the Voice campaign
Penong was the only town in Australia to vote No in the historic 1967 referendum. Ahead of the Voice to Parliament referendum, these local Elders feel let down by the Yes campaign's efforts.
Published 13 October 2023 5:44am
By Peta Doherty
Source: SBS News
Image: Wanda Miller, a Southern Western Desert Elder, says the Yes campaign didn't provide enough support in her area.
In 1967, Australia's most successful referendum saw nine out of 10 people vote "yes" to count Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the census. But a small South Australian town bucked the trend.
Penong made national headlines as the only town in the country to record a majority No vote. Fifty-six years later, advocates for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament are hoping the Far West Coast population will vote for change in Saturday's referendum - but say lack of support from the official Yes campaign has left an opening for No messaging and confusion to flood the region.
In the region's centre, nearby Ceduna, nearly 50 per cent of the population voted "no" in 1967.
At the Australian Electoral Commission's early polling station in Penong, residents told SBS News the town held harmonious relationships with the Indigenous community. The majority of voters who spoke to SBS, however, also indicated they were voting "no" to a Voice to Parliament — claiming it wasn't about race, but rather a general distrust of government and confusion about what the Voice will look like. These concerns were compounded by cost of living pressures in a town 75km from the nearest supermarket.
The proposed Voice to Parliament would be a body advising the government on issues particularly impacting First Nations Australians. The body would be made up of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, with fixed-term memberships.
It would be gender-balanced and include youth members, draw on representatives from all states and territories, and include representatives from specific remote communities.
The Yes23 campaign was due to visit South Australia's far-west coast, where Penong is located, in September, but cancelled its events at the last minute without any public explanation.
"It's really disappointing", said Wanda Miller, a Southern Western Desert Elder and resident at Scotdesco Aboriginal Community west of Penong.
"We really need support."
Back in 1967, on the day after the referendum, the Sydney Morning Herald reported, "Counting today suggested that the South Australian town of Penong, near Ceduna, is the only district to record a No vote. Of 210 votes counted 109 have been No."
An Adelaide newspaper, the Chronicle, reporting a few days later, said Penong recorded a 50.69 per cent No vote, while in nearby Ceduna 48.45 per cent of the town's 809 participants said "no".
Miller remembers what it was like before the referendum.
"People in small towns didn't acknowledge Aboriginal people," she told SBS. "We were left on the outskirts of town, we weren't allowed into the shops and things like that. So completely ignored unless they wanted some men to work."
More than half a century later, she's volunteering for the Yes campaign at Koonibba, about 40km east of Penong. It's a place that holds many memories for Miller, who was placed in a children's home on the former mission at the age of four, after spending her early years in the bush with her family.
For Miller, a Yes vote means more equality and a chance for her people to set foot on the socioeconomic ladder.
"It has improved quite a bit, but we are still not on an equal footing with the rest of Australia," Miller said. "Aboriginal people still have one foot on the ground, and it seems that we can't lift it. All we're needing is some sort of chance to get on that socio-eco ladder so we can start our climb."
She was hoping the Yes campaign would organise a big meeting or visit communities, "where we can all gather and explain it and really get proactive in our area".
"There hasn't been much work done in this regard," she said.
Instead, she's hearing confusion from her people, with some reporting they’ve been told their communities would lose funding under a Voice to Parliament.
Wirangu, Kokatha Mirning man Warren Miller agreed better promotion in remote communities was needed.
"A bit more positivity and sending out the right people to promote what we're actually saying Yes about," he said. "The Voice could come up with some really good outcomes for our young people … It would make an impact to our health, our housing, and could mean we're actually co-designing what is going to happen in our communities."
But Miller said the most important message had been left out: the 1967 referendum gave the federal government constitutional powers to make specific legislation for First Nations people.
"It allows the government to determine the outcomes for Aboriginal people," he said. "The Voice is a mechanism to negotiate that, to change that one part of the constitution."
The town of Ceduna has a long history of racial division, and the Indigenous community has felt the brunt of top-down policies and successive government decisions, such as the introduction and subsequent cancellation of the controversial cashless debit card trial.
While a quarter of Ceduna's residents are Aboriginal, only a small handful have ever represented the community on council.
Some critics of a Voice point to the high taxpayer spend on social services in the town — which support not just the local community but also a large itinerant population from remote areas.
Yadu Aboriginal Health Service CEO Leeroy Bilney said he could understand the concerns.
"There has been a lot of things happening in Aboriginal communities. What people don't understand is that that's not necessarily coming from us, as Aboriginal people driving them," he said.
When community has voiced concerns, or "they've actually raised solutions, they have never been heard properly," he said.
"So what I'm hopeful for is that with this Yes campaign ... that will solve a lot of our issues, and the community's issues as a whole can be resolved."
'People don't feel that there's a strategy'
visited the region last week with the support of progressive political activist group GetUp, in response to concerns that information about the referendum was not reaching remote areas.
"We've been a little bit worried, and we've certainly heard from community members in regional and remote areas in South Australia that there hasn't been enough information," said Ngarrindjeri, Kaurna and Wirangu woman Melissa Clarke.
"From my perspective educating mob around what a referendum is and where the Voice came [from] - the Uluru Statement from the Heart — is really important."
At a community meeting in Ceduna, she and other Uluru signatories heard an outpouring of frustration about the lack of support for the referendum campaign in a region which supports multiple remote Aboriginal communities. People said relatable grassroots Aboriginal faces were missing across the campaign, and a lack of information and low social media presence had created a vacuum for No messaging to take hold.
The Uluru Statement from the Heart. Source: Facebook / The Uluru Statement from the Heart
"People don't feel that there's a strategy," one participant said.
"I'm very disappointed," said Kokatha Elder Colleen Prideaux, a former CEO of Aboriginal health services and long-term advocate for Aboriginal communities.
"Everyone forgets about the bush … we're only just getting information now."
"People don't know what a Voice is."
Colleen Prideaux said she is disappointed at how little information has been supplied to communities in remote areas in relation to the Voice to Parliament referendum.
"'Voice' is the wrong word," she said.
"It should have been 'Acceptance' ... [people] needed to know that we are fighting for your acceptance."
Indigenous No vote
But not everyone agrees the referendum is the best option.
One of Sue Haseldine's formative memories is the day she was barred from Ceduna hospital as a sick child.
"My mum brought me to the hospital and we had to stand outside," said the Kokatha elder. "I was being very sick near the rainwater tank and the sister had to come outside to check me out, but we were not allowed in the hospital."
Sue Haseldine said she does not support the referendum, citing a lack of faith in the Australian government.
But Haseldine, who is a passionate advocate for caring for Country, does not support the referendum.
"I can't see the government offering me anything to help protect the country, the animals, our culture," she said. "It seems to me every time something works with Aboriginal people, the government cuts the funding. I know people say, 'you've got to live in hope'. Well, I've lived in hope all my life and nothing's happened, nothing's changed. We're still fighting to protect a little bit of land."
Signatories to the Uluru Statement Melissa Clarke and Arrin Hazelbane travelled to Ceduna to speak with mob about the referendum.
In the final days leading up to the referendum, the 76-year-old is imploring Australians to open their hearts.
"Nothing changes if nothing changes," she said. "Come on Australia, we really need your help to get the Yes vote across the line. Open your hearts and vote Yes."
SBS News contacted the Yes23 campaign for comment, but at the time of writing had not received a response.
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