Yes, we have printed the Uluru Statement from the Heart on the front page of The Echo newspaper this week.
They are the words of simplicity, dignity and truth that stirred the government into presenting us with a referendum.
On October 14, we will vote on the proposal ‘To alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.’
Most of the people this newspaper reaches will probably vote ‘Yes’ to the question, ‘Do you approve this proposed alteration?’ However, if the polls are correct, many people elsewhere intend to withhold their consent.
There are some honourable reasons for doing so.
The proposal does not go far enough; there should be a Treaty; the Voice is a far cry from self-government; and it will not be a magic bullet to right the wrongs and repair the damage that has been inflicted on the First Peoples.
These and similar considerations are not trivial, but they have been drowned out by the deceitful arguments, unfounded assertions and outright falsehoods peddled by the kind of media outlets and politicians who profit from manipulated fear, hatred and division.
Apart from the home-grown example of Scott Morrison, we have had ample warning in the US and the UK of what happens when bad faith and deliberate lies invade the public sphere.
Indeed, the Coalition has even adopted the Trump strategy of undermining people’s trust in the voting process itself, by baselessly accusing the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) of a bias in favour of the ‘Yes’ case.
And in the AEC booklet, which is supposed to give both sides of the argument fairly, the anti-Voice campaigners have used the now familiar tactics of cherry-picking, half-truths and fake news. If their fact-free opposition is successful, the momentum towards a better future for all of us will be lost, perhaps for years.
A generation ago a majority of Australians, according to polls taken at the time, wanted to abolish the monarchy, but did not like the referendum’s proposal of a head of state chosen by politicians rather than elected by the people.
Many republican-leaning voters rejected the referendum, thinking a better proposal would be forthcoming. They are still waiting.
Those who do not vote ‘Yes’ now, even from the best of motives, will find no improved future opportunity if the referendum is defeated. Nor will a reluctant vote against the Voice be any different from the triumphant votes of white supremacists.
Yes, it takes courage to change the status quo. Yes, the referendum will not bring down inflation or the cost of living. Yes, the worst problem we face is the existential threat of climate change, which governments are meeting by outlawing protests against its perpetrators. But a small measure of progress is still progress, and it deserves a whole-hearted Yes.
David Lovejoy, Echo co-founder
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For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
