Well that’s a shame.
A year ago, Noel Pearson was giving the Boyer Lecture and said this: “If success in the forthcoming referendum is to be predicated on our popularity as a people, then it is doubtful we will succeed. It does not and will not take much to mobilise antipathy against Aboriginal people and conjure the worst imaginings about us and the recognition we seek.”
How right he was.
This is a very depressing result. It should have been an easy win, a no-brainer. But instead it has shown us how easily people can be motivated by fear and apathy. So few of us know more than a handful of Indigenous Australians, let alone are friends with them and know them well. As we saw in the Marriage Equality plebiscite, knowing the people you’re voting for and championing can make a big impact.
Which is not to say that it’s impossible to vote for the rights of people you have no connection to, of course. That’s a foolish oversimplification. But I think the smaller the minority the easier it is to dismiss, to dehumanise and ignore. We see it with trans folk, with refugees and we see it with First Nations people. Ignorance breeds fear, distrust and apathy.
And whilst I hated that we had to have a plebiscite for an obviously good thing with Marriage Equality, I could at least take comfort that after all the hurt, bigotry and violence we at least got the right result in the end. Not so today, obviously. As a nation we have just dragged our First Peoples through the mud only to eventually kick them in the face.
It’s not right. It’s not fair. It’s fucking cruel.
It’s a defeat, but the struggle will continue. Perhaps now we can work towards Truth-Telling and Treaty. It will be a longer road, now, but no less important or urgent. Despite the hurt, I hope this campaign has made some people more cognizant of the plight of First Nations communities. And when the shock and disappointment wears off, I hope we all emerge with a renewed vigour and an imperative to right the many wrongs and heal the many injustices that have dogged this country since the late eighteenth century.