Patricia Gill, Denmark Bulletin

Public servant of 30-plus years, Albany Noongar man Ken Kelly, says a Voice to Parliament will improve social outcomes and reduce future costs.

Speaking at the Yes Campaign Walk on September 30, Mr Kelly sees a Voice as a way of keeping the Government of the day on track.

The mayoral candidate for the City of Albany, a grandson of renowned artist, the late Bella Kelly, has worked in State and Government agencies.

These include education, health, justice, child protection, and domestic violence and drug and alcohol services.

Aboriginal outcomes in these areas were low and the gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people was widening.

While working for Government Mr Kelly had seen failures to address social outcomes, and the waste of taxpayers’ money which could have been saved if some programs had been maintained.

“This is a failure not only of the Australian Government of the day but of all Australian people,” Mr Kelly said.

“We vote them in and, if we fail to keep them – the Government – accountable to improving social outcomes for Aboriginal people and acknowledge them in our history, we all fail.”

At the moment Aboriginal services and the community had a four-year cycle to improve outcomes and these would change if there were a change of Government.

There was an argument in the No campaign that Australians were all equal and a Voice would give more power to Aboriginal people.

“Yes, we are equal and, no, there will be no more power given to Aboriginal people,” he said.

“But the reality is that there is no equity in that equality when it comes to advising Government.”

The current power to inform the Government of the day about Aboriginal outcomes was at the whim of the Government, and that Government of the day could listen to whomever they wanted.

A Voice to Parliament would provide power to the Aboriginal advisory voice, enshrined in the Constitution.

“For me, a Voice to Parliament is an investment in the future of this country,” Mr Kelly said.

This investment would address past failures of identifying Aboriginal people in the history of this country.

It would improve social outcomes including Aboriginal people because it was ‘not about us, without us’.

The Voice to Parliament would, most importantly, make Aboriginal people feel included in this country and feel accepted as Australians.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders readers are advised that this story contains reference to people who are no longer living.

This article appeared in the Denmark Bulletin, 12 October 2023.