Baptist Minister Tim Costello has written an open letter to Church leaders, calling for their support for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, ahead of the Prime Minister's announcement of the referendum date.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is set to announce the much-anticipated date for the Indigenous Voice referendum in Adelaide today.
Previous polls had put the No vote ahead in SA, which is considered a crucial swing state, but a new survey of 605 people indicates 43 per cent of South Australians now back an Indigenous Voice to parliament while 39 per cent are opposed."There shall be a body called the Voice. The second is what will it do? It may give advice on matters affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The third bit, again really important but really simple.
"Well I've been speaking in Churches in Adelaide and in Perth, both doing sermons and then having meetings about the Voice. And I found this almost fear from clergy and from Christians to discuss it. They were saying 'Oh it's divisive, oh it's political'. This is about the good of the nation, stop being afraid to discuss it, saying it's political and divisive."
"He actually says exactly that: why are you clergy who are against segregation criticising me and saying 'be patient' and 'don't push' and 'it's divisive' and 'it's political'. And he says this as a brother in Christ, a fellow minister, when is it a good time to actually step up against inequality? So that's why I quote that letter, that caution was what Martin Luther King had run into with the clergy also.
Opposition Minister for Indigenous Australians Jacinta Nampijinpa Price criticises the voice for adding another layer of bureaucracy in Canberra, while Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe believes the enshrined Voice would establish a "powerless advisory body".
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