South Australian Indigenous Liberal Senator Kerrynne Liddle has relayed concerns from a group of elders she says are “gutted” that Uluru “continues to be used for political and promotional purpose”.
Independent Senator Jacqui Lambie says the Labor government really needs to “tighten up” the Voice to Parliament and sell it well.
“I still think that is going to continue to get more divisive,” Ms Lambie told Sky news Australia.
“Once this goes through, then you’re going to see it’s open slather out there.”
Speaking in the Senate on Friday night the South Australian Liberal Senator, who grew up in Alice Springs, said she met four men on a recent trip to Uluru who expressed their disappointment they had been associated with a movement they do not support.
“Mr Murray George, Mr Clem Toby, Mr Owen Burton and Mr Trevor Adamson have thought deeply about the local and national implications of going so public,” Ms Liddle told the Senate.
The Senate will hold a final vote on Monday to finalise the setting up of the Voice to Parliament referendum as the public prepares to have its say.
Despite the Coalition opposing the Voice, the vote is expected to pass in order for the referendum to be held.
“They have not been driven by money or popularity, and there is no malice. There is just speaking their truth.
“They want you to know they feel great sadness. They feel deceived, disrespected and ignored. They are gutted that their most sacred place continues to be used for political and promotional purpose.
“They don’t see their hopes and dreams delivered by the Voice, but they know Australians want and can do better. In cities, towns, pubs and clubs and in polite and not-so-polite conversations, they know the debate, the rhetoric and the hysteria will continue, yet at the referendum they will be voting no.”
Ms Liddle said the men had concerns Uluru was being used as a symbol for a debate that is dividing Australians.
“Uluru is so much more than a magnificent 500-million-year-old sandstone monolith. It is their spiritual and cultural heart,” she said.
“It is their centre of everything. In the Anangu-Pitjantjatjara language, there is only one Uluru—just one. It is not a canvas. It is not a statement. It is not an artefact. It is not a political tool or campaign tool, nor does it speak of a point in time or come with a date.
Senator Kerrynne Liddle has revealed a group of Indigenous signatories on the Uluru Statement from the Heart were “surprised” to see their name on the document calling for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. Picture: NCA/NewsWire Emma Brasier
“Unless you have been listening carefully, you can’t possibly have learnt this.”
Ms Liddle said the elders’ concerns about the Statement from the Heart had been simmering since it’s creation in 2017.
“What has turned up the temperature is the recent return of the ‘yes’ campaign to Uluru for a well-publicised anniversary event and the frenzied use of the word ‘Uluru’ as this campaign escalates,” she said.
“Uluru is not an airport. That’s why the nearby airport is called Ayers Rock Airport. Uluru is not a tourism resort. That’s why the nearby resort is called Yulara. The statement itself and the proposition it speaks to is, in their own words, divisive.
“In the words of Murray George: ‘That canvas now is causing a lot of problems for us. If I could only get my hands on it I would burn it.’ The Statement from the Heart has been used and is being used to transmit a message of support that they argue, actually, misrepresents them.
The senator said three of the men went to the referendum dialogues in 2017 “because they wanted to hear what was happening”.
“They were honoured, truly honoured, as they always are, to have been asked to perform a traditional dance on their country,” she said.
“They recall signing an attendance register but they say that is where their association with the Voice ended. In the words of Mr Trevor Adamson: ‘We didn’t sign that we were happy for this to go ahead. There was no way we agreed.’ I’ve also heard from women surprised to see their signatures on the statement, unhappy that their attendance and consultation is likely to be interpreted as consent. But they were not prepared to come out publicly.
Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney remains positive the majority of Australians will vote Yes to a Voice to Parliament despite recent polls showing a slump in support.
“This is a marathon not a sprint,” Ms Burney told Sky News Australia.
“Now that we have almost finished the work in the Parliament, the campaigns will kick in, and I think it’s fantastic that people want to know more.
“If we embrace that we are going to recognise 65,000 years of culture and heritage and story, which is yours and mine, how proud does that make us, how grown up does that make us as a country.”
The No campaign has previously been accused of misrepresenting the views of Stewart Lingiari, a man from the Northern Territory community of Ngukurr who was used in No campaign ads where he was described as the grandson of Aboriginal land rights activist Vincent Lingiari.
He later told The Guardian he was not Vincent Lingiari’s blood relative, had not given permission for his image to be used and felt humiliated by the episode.
The issue was used last week by Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney as an example of “post-truth politics” being practised by the No campaign.
“The Australian people are better than Trump politics from the No campaign,” she said.
“A No campaign that has no solutions for the challenges that we face.”
However Ms Liddle said the men she spoke to at Uluru, like her, were among many Indigenous Australians who did not support the push for a Voice.
“As an objector, I’m simply dismissed as a wrecker, mischievous and a chicken little, while others are caught in a redneck celebrity vortex or are bedwetters,” she said.
“But at least I can tell you how I really feel. At least I recognise that there are alternative views from mine.
“I dismiss as absolutely absurd actions that seek to control and deride and embarrass people on whether anyone can have a voice about the Voice.”