In response to David Witney’s letter (30 August). Every year the government releases their budget projections for the coming year. Each year funding is allocated to Aboriginal communities to address welfare, health, and housing.
The decisions on how this money is spent are made by Canberra bureaucrats who assume they know what’s needed in the communities. Shocking results show we haven’t closed the gap or raised the living standards of First Nations people.
The Voice will provide a representative group of First Nations people to propose what will work for them; the government must listen and then decide how to respond.
Most First Nations people in our country live in third-world poverty. They suffer shocking health issues that impact on every aspect of their lives including inadequate housing (if any), poor access to health facilities and clean drinking water – the list goes on.
The Voice will not solve everything immediately but it will provide an avenue that ensures that the government must listen for the long term. It’s such a small ask.
I urge people to think carefully about this opportunity. There is too much at stake for the future wellbeing of First Nations communities.
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. 
