‘It will be no different’: Aboriginal leader sceptical of Indigenous Voice to Parliament’s capacity to create change

Aboriginal leader Nyunggai Warren Mundine has expressed scepticism over the Voice to Parliament’s ability to make a meaningful difference to the lives of Indigenous Australians.

He told Sky News host Chris Kenny he couldn’t “understand why people support the Voice” given the history of Indigenous organisations which have failed to create meaningful change on the issues faced by Aboriginal Australians.

“We’ve done these things in the past and the Voice will be no different from the other voices that were in the past,” he said.

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Mr Mundine has previously referenced ATSIC and the Aboriginal Consultative Council as examples of advisory bodies which failed to properly address day-to-day issues for Indigenous Australians.

The “same crowd that sat around that table” are the “same crowd” that are now sitting around the table driving the Voice to Parliament and Uluru Statement, he said.

“I can’t see how this is going to do it,” he said of the Voice to Parliament proposition.

Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe has also thrown her weight behind a ‘No’ vote in the upcoming Voice to Parliament referendum, despite claiming last October she wouldn’t do so.

At ‘Invasion Day’ protests in Melbourne on Thursday, Ms Thorpe used her speech to push for a treaty over a Voice to Parliament.

“What do we have to celebrate in this country? Do we want to become an advisory body to the colonial system?,” she yelled to gathered crowds while holding a ‘war stick’.

“We deserve better. We have to be rid of racism and heal this country and bring everyone together through a sovereign treaty.

“We deserve better than an advisory body. They could put 10 independent black seats in the senate today. We want real power and we won’t settle for anything less.”

Mr Mundine joked he and the outspoken left-wing Senator have become “strange bedfellows” in their opposition to the Voice.  

The 66-year-old businessman also supports treaties between governments and Indigenous First Nations, but on the proviso the treaties are between governments and separate nation groups.

He disagreed with Ms Thorpe’s claims that Aboriginal Australians were “at war”, however.

“There are some wars going on; but it’s in these Aboriginal communities where there is drugs and alcohol and all these things are happening,” he said.

“We’ve got to get around some of these issues around state, federal and territory problems.”

“There are better ways to do these things.”

Despite his criticism of the constitutionally enshrined Voice, Mr Mundine told Sky News he was “supportive” of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders being put in the constitution.

“It’s about the place you put it, and how we actually go forward into the future,” he said.