Vote YES

In the view of the Board of CoPower the Uluru Statement from the Heart represents a generous offer for a basis of a genuine coming together between Indigenous Australians and the Australian Parliament, as the legal representative of the post-invasion society.

In particular, the Board believes that the process of Voice, Treaty & Truth-Telling proposed in the Uluu Statement provides for genuine engagement between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the Parliament and the wider Australian community with the aim of meaningful transformative change for self-determination and justice. 

Enshrining the existence of an Indigenous Voice to Parliament within the Constitution is an important first step and this will ensure that it cannot be removed at the whim of the government of the day, as has previously occurred with legislated indigenous representative structures. Writing YES is based on the fundamental principle that laws and policies are more effective when those who are affected by them have a voice. 

For these reasons the Board urges customer members of CoPower to support and advocate for a YES vote in the referendum to establish the Voice to Parliament, as a first step on the path towards justice.