"Yes23 Needs work, but not the same blinkered Journalism!

                                                                                                                                                                         

   Last week an article appeared in the #Conservative newspapers, suggesting people coming from a 'No' perspective on the Referendum on Recognition of Aboriginal People in the Constitution and the Voice to Parliament, were increasingly reticent to voice their opinion for fear of the response and being branded racist! How ironic!

There are valid reasons to consider a NO vote:

- You genuinely believe this Constitutional change is racist or divisive

- The Constitution is not the place to reflect this reform

- You are convinced it won't deliver equity for indigenous Australians

- The separation of the 'values behind it' from how it will be established concerns you

This is different to:

- Feeling Aboriginal people get advantages and this is a 'leg up' - which by definition implies 'undeserved' or 'unjustified' special treatment (something Aboriginal people are very familiar with)

- You're  racist, with little or no appreciation of culture/story 

- When challenged you become abusive (yes I'll offer in return)

- It being about your own struggles and perceived lack of 'fairness'

- Appeal to the ideal we are all equal why divide us, the genuine case study version of a perspective shared from white privilege, whatever 'opportunities' you feel aren't open to you.
Equity is different to equality.

- You don't have 'the details' which is a distraction, where when details are offered we argue about them instead of the principle at hand eg. should it be 24 or 26 representatives when it's very existence is the main point and questions like this will vary as its effectiveness is measured. Details changeable, principle fixed as a solution generously asked for by aboriginal people themselves

- Not understanding who the few public aboriginal 'No' voices speak for

- And a few more...

   I'm reflecting on this today because I'm having some fruitful measured conversations with people genuinely open to learn or share and some idiot social media exchanges parroting memes and what are perceived to be funny quotable quotes (as above) avoiding the issues and applicable to all people, masquerading as wisdom or humour, when the quote is just about us all at some point or other...

   But even more, the same articles appeared around the plebiscite into 'Marriage Equality' and could have just had the topic 'cut and pasted,' even if the research is real! Maybe just as 'Yes' enthusiasts are invited to share generously and around enquiry, those feeling 'No' might simply offer their questions or concerns, open to hear alternative views. If that meets with threatening or negative feedback, call it out! But please, journalists, your vehicles editorial bias is showing! How about instead of 'gotcha' details questions, you ask people's perspective on the detail which exists, tell the story of indigenous people and invite them to tell it first, ask the No politicians which aboriginal leaders they have consulted with and whether, for example, being on a Mining Company Board effects your opinion on the interplay between mining permissions, traditional owners and 'The Voice.' Ask how a former Government who commissioned a 'shape of the Voice' report doesn't recall what it said!

   By all means ask about the kinds of valid reasons for 'No,' some of which are above... but don't subject us to the same 'cookie cutter' articles we've seen on previous issues. 

"We live in an Economy, not a Community!"

       It's all called 'trickle down Economics' but whichever way you describe it, "the rich get richer, the poor get the picture!" When I took up my vocation of ministry of Youth Worker I wondered if I'd ever use my Bachelor of Economics and genuine interest in the values and machinations it involves, again? 

   Slowly over the last 2 decades it became clear theology and economics would sit together in exploring the values of our western democratic societies and the nature of 'community' within them. Early on even the movie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," made fun of the term 'Voodoo Economics.' It's known as 'trickle down theory' or the Morrison and former Coalition Government's embrace of the idea if you offer Stage 3 Tax Cuts to our wealthiest, slash business tax rates and repeat the words 'small business' over and over then the economic benefits to corporations will ‘trickle down' to those on lower wages, unemployed or strugglers, by the invisible hand of the market economy.

   The removal of tariffs and a wholehearted pursuit of 'free trade' agreements is called 'levelling the playing field' when in fact it is more like climbing a mountain or traversing a 'mine field.' It has meant Fiscal policy (the levers Government uses) and Monetary Policy (the dollar and the role of the Reserve Bank) have become limited in what they can do to alter events. Our current 'cost of living' pressures reflect a drive to lower Taxes and less instruments available to Government to deal with issues.

   In the privatisation world, housing has become a retirement investment, so there isn't sufficient housing for everyone and it's become a chronic shortage. Just this week I learnt the Boulevarde Apartments in Hamilton are being used for social or affordable public housing the crisis is so severe. People in the 'housing and homelessness' area for 30 years find themselves advocating for 'safe car sleeping zones' as credible options, things are so bad.

   "If you have a go, you get a go!" our former PM famously said, "we are a nation of lifters, not leaners" offered the Treasurer as Government sought to strip back 'everything.' Including we learn, the Public Service wage bill in Canberra, whilst spending billions on Consultants. They'd use words like nimble or responsive, while allowing said firms to 'rort' and act corruptly. This includes auditing programs and spending on projects they recommend!

   BUT this is all just narrative around the bigger implications! We as people are regarded as part of the economy, a privatised market, where disadvantage puts you behind to begin with and then amplifies poverty, lack of education and skills. It tears the fabric of our society as we judge people harshly, when to ‘have a go' requires the resources to draw from, to get moving in the first place!

   Created in God's image, salt of the earth, we have inherent value as people and space to thrive in community which our very system crushes and makes impossible for many. It reinforces judgement against those who can't 'lift themselves up.' It creates division and causes angry people to target the vulnerable, like most recent hysteria around the 'trans community.' 

   We need to gather power to challenge the notions: everything can be privatised and equate to a dollar value; efficiency of the NDIS means it costs less; Jobseekers are bludgers; big corporations have our best interests at heart v shareholders and highly paid managers; and much more...

   Even in our economic terms I cringe every time a TV or radio journalist equates the Budget of our country with a household, regarding deficits as problematic! It's like an episode of 'Utopia!' Infrastructure built from debt leaves a legacy… 

   At the 'grassroots' of community we need to: see value in every person; regard them as having challenges and problems in need of our help; we need to strive for equity or access to resources, not the false notion of equality being 'shouted' as part of the distraction in the discussion around a 'Voice to Parliament' - an advisory body to better reflect solutions to problems in the indigenous community or ways to better capitalise,  on their natural affinities and advantages! Vote YES, to heal the scar on the soul of this country!

People are people, not economic units

Banks squeezing people for fees and interest make billions as do their managers

Government has a role in community or society, not just the economy. e.g. Squeezing TAFE in favour of private colleges - how did that work out - voodoo economics! Most went broke and now we need to reinvest in TAFE to skill our trades!

There is a place for an informed 'church' voice in the public square if we are willing to 'roll up our sleeves' and take action, not just preaching morals (or even ethics, the more accurate descriptor)!

We still need 'safety nets', public housing, public transport, services, infrastructure, roads, investment etc to cover for our natural disadvantages in a so called 'free trade' world!

Addition: a tweet today regarding small Government in Australia, preferring PWC consultants to public servants

Can we just put to bed forever the neoliberal concept of ‘small government’. #PwC scandal proves it’s all a giant rort geared to giving an elite corporate cohort a licence to print money at the taxpayer expense. It’s not more efficient, it’s corrupt. #rnbreakfast