I’m really annoyed about all the things that are written and said about the referendum on October 14 which do not address the proposed addition to the Australian Constitution.
A typical example is attributed to Justine Elliot, federal member for Richmond, in The Echo (13 September). It was: ‘Recognising 65,000 years of Indigenous culture’.
The proposed addition to the Constitution states: ‘In recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Peoples of Australia’. There is nothing about 65,000 years of culture.
Her advertisement in The Echo also states ‘the Voice [is] a diverse group of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’. The proposed addition to the Constitution states ‘the parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws with respect to matters relating to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, including composition, functions, powers and procedures.’
Despite its name every matter relating to the Voice, including its composition, is to be determined by the parliament, not Indigenous people, if this proposal is approved by the referendum. The Voice could include both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people or even contain no Indigenous people at all and still be consistent with this constitutional proposal.
Don’t believe what I say about the referendum proposal. Everything I say about it comes from the AEC referendum booklet. Look it up.
I also do not understand why it is claimed that Indigenous people are not already recognised in the Australian Constitution. After all, the 1967 referendum changed the Constitution to grant Indigenous people Australian citizenship and the right to participate in the electoral process. If such changes to the status of Indigenous people occurred in the Australian Constitution how could they not have been identified and recognised as the people who have gained citizenship and suffrage? Calling them Indigenous or Aboriginal implies their prehistoric occupation of this continent, like the Aztecs in Mexico or the Celts in Britain.
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. 
