PRAYER AT MUTITJULU WATERHOLE, ULURU 23/7/2005 THE HEALING THE PEOPLE, HEALING THE LAND CONVOCATION 21-24/7/05

By Pastor Barbara Miller

A MIRACLE OCCURRED AT ULURU – THE RAINBOW SERPENT AND ITS EGGS LEFT ULURU AFTER PRAYER – CAUGHT ON CAMERA

Prayer at the rock at Uluru at Ps 24:7 convocation 2005 hosted by CFIRP
Prayer with local Aboriginal woman by Ps Peter Walker and Ps John Blackett in our convocation setting which was the Tent of Promise

We travelled to the base of Uluru in July 2005 for onsite prayer as part of the Healing the People Healing the Land Ps 24:7 convocation. It was hosted by the apostle prophet team Norman and Barbara Miller and the Centre for International Reconciliation and Peace, We used two hire buses of 100 people followed by other buses from Kalgoorlie, Darwin, and Tennant Creek, and cars of people who had come to the conference.

We set out from the tourist town of Yulara to Ayers Rock or Uluru at 2 pm Saturday 23rd July 2005 for an afternoon of prayer. For many, it was their first visit to the rock but others had paved the way. There was old and young, people from the desert and people from the coast, people from the bush and people from the city, male and female, black and white but we were all one in the Lord.

We had permission to be on this land from the traditional owners and had already received a welcome to country.

On arriving at Uluru, we stopped for some prayer in preparation. Norman said seeds were going to be planted, seeds of righteousness, godly seeds, and right foundations. He read from Gen 12:2-3 about the nations being blessed through Abraham and that whoever blesses his seed will be blessed and whoever curses his seed will be cursed. He said we want to be a sheep nation and bless Israel. Also, we need to plant seeds of honoring.

He honored God and all those who have gone before us and God’s covenant people. (We were with the Australian Prayer Network who hosted the National Prayer Gathering at Uluru in 1999 and there have been others paving the way).

Norman said we need to prophetically connect or be grafted as the wild olive branches into the natural olive tree of Israel. He said he would ask Hilary Moroney, as a person of Jewish heritage, to do this. Gloria Dyer and another lady of Jewish heritage joined her in this.

Norman said that part of the vision of the conference was to see a highway opened from Uluru to Jerusalem. He said on his last visit there 18 months ago, there were some rabbis dancing with joy in the streets of Jerusalem and they drew him into the circle to dance with them.

This was so special but he also wanted to dance with Jews in his land, even the heartland of Australia. The Lord made that possible on Tuesday morning when we danced with an Israeli, Madav, at the base of Uluru and crossed a bridge together, prophetically declaring that we were opening that highway from Uluru to Jerusalem with our prayer.

Norman then read excerpts from Romans 11:11-21 about the ingrafting. He also read Mt 7:24-27 about building your house on a rock.

Barbara honored God, the Anangu people on whose land we stood, and the Jewish people. She then led prayers of covering and protection because of the spiritual warfare that was about to occur. She led people in repentance so we could come to this event with clean hands and a pure heart and would not have any chinks in our armor.

We put on the armor of Ephesians 6 and prayed for the covering of Ps 91. Barbara prayed for the covering of the precious blood of the Lord over us and all that pertained to us and that angels would fight fights for us in heavenly realms. Also that the hedge God put around Job would be around us so the darts of the enemy could not get in.

She prayed for the blessings of Deut 28:1-14 for obedience to be on us and that the Lord would help us to be obedient so that we could receive the benefits of this scripture. We prayed that we would be the head and not the tail and that the enemy who came at us in one way would flee from us in 7 ways and that no weapon formed against us would prosper.

She prayed that the Lord would confuse the airways of the enemy and bring confusion, division, and ambush on them so they would fight each other and not us and also for the awe and terror and fear of the Lord upon them. We spoke that the battle was the Lords and that He would send His angels out ahead of us.

Barbara prayed to break off spirits of revenge, backlash and retribution and to cancel all assignments of the enemy against us. This was to include our conference, the prayer at the rock, our families, our churches, our workplaces, our health and finances and all those praying for us wherever they were.

Hilary asked people to pray in tongues. She then repented on behalf of Jews and non-Jews and asked the Lord to graft us into His true olive tree. She asked that Australia would be a sheep nation and stand with Israel. She thanked God for her heritage and asked that Australians would have a heart for Indigenous people as well.

Norman generally has a theme for the year and he declared the theme for 2005 – “Alive, Thrive and Revive in 2005” and “Ministry of the Arts – Apostolically Releasing the Saints”.

Barbara had shared in a previous session on spiritual mapping that the Mutitjulu waterhole was the home of the python snake, the poisonous snake and the rainbow serpent so this was the chosen location for most of the prayer. We basically had a four-hour trip, three hours of prayer, and just less than one hour’s travel, including circling the rock before returning to Yulara.

On arriving at Mutitjulu waterhole, Norman read Mt 16:13-19 about the church being built on the rock of revelation that He is the Lord, that the gates of hell would not prevail against it and that He had given his church the keys of binding and loosing. He thanked God for the loosing He was going to do in this place.

There was concert prayer ie a lot of people praying at the same time. Norman then asked the Lord to loose the 7 seals and to let His glory loose in this place. He read Rev 5:1-10. Only the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Jesus the lamb that was slain) is worthy to open the seals.

There was the sound of shofars and shouts and the roar of the lion of the tribe of Judah. The strategy of roaring like the Lion of the tribe of Judah was a strategy the Lord showed Barbara in Cairns and then led Barbara and Norman to use with effect to help bring breakthrough in Malaysia and Thailand at Bangkok Breakthrough conference. Muslims and Buddhists had loudspeakers blaring but Christian churches around the world are quiet.

Norman declared that the Lion of the tribe of Judah is not going to be intimidated by that ancient serpent. The Ancient of Days will have His way. He then read from Rev 20:1-3 about an angel from heaven seizing the dragon, the ancient serpent, the devil and then he was bound for 1,000 years. Norman then asked for another roar from the Bethany Gate and some more roaring went up with the sound of the shofar. There was a flag with the lion and the Star of David on it which Bruce Poulsen held. There were many other flags as well.

Norman and Barbara turning the key over the nation at the convocation. Ps George Annadorai, a speaker, holding the microphone

Brendon Cook, an Aboriginal leader from Tom Price, Pilbara WA claimed the rock back in the name of Jesus. He had boomerangs in his hand as he declared that the rock was the Lord’s. “I, Brendon Cook, son of the Most High God, claim this land back for Him in Jesus name”. God reigns.

Barbara had done a session at the conference on spiritual mapping and now prayed re the central creation story to this location which was the python woman or kuniya who became greatly enraged and sought revenge on the Liru or poisonous snake men (Aboriginal tribes identified with another part of creation) who had killed her nephew.

Kuniya did a powerful magic dance and then killed the Liru warrior who dropped his shield. In the process of her dance, she had stirred up the dust and poisoned some plants, particularly the spearwood bush. After some repentance and prayer by Aboriginal elders, Barbara took authority over these spirits of anger, revenge, witchcraft, murder, and death in Jesus name and prayed in the opposite spirits of blessing, joy, peace, love, life, and the Holy Spirit. Aboriginal elders and others prayed in unison.

She prayed that the Lord would remove the poison from the land, plants and waterhole. Norman later put some eucalyptus leaves in the water and prayed healing over them.

Barbara asked Aboriginal women to come forward as it is a birthing site and some women from the Northern Territory prayed in their language. An Aboriginal woman from Perth, Gloria Dyer, prayed to break the curse of barrenness off the land and into all territories.

“Father into all territories, I pray for an arrow to go from this place into the darkness and from Israel into this place. With the revelation of the blessing of the mothers of the land through the Holy Spirit, I break off the curse of barrenness over the land and release the men and women, and children of the land. “

Katie Hagen, an Aboriginal woman from Brisbane said,

“I call on the wind from the north the south the east, and the west to breathe in this place and the dead shall live. This is the day the Lord has made and we rejoice in it. I have given you the former rain and the latter rain. I have given you abundant rain. It shall rain. It shall rain. I have given you rain this day. We ask that the wind of the breath of the spirit of God will take the blessings to the 4 corners of the earth from this place. What you’ve declared to us is for all eternity.”

One of the men said this is a new birth of this nation.

Barbara agreed and said you can see in the formation of the rock that this is a birthing place and that is why we are here. She said the Lord had given her a vision of a white statue rising out of Uluru, the bride of Christ, and the words:

“Out of the ancient womb comes the 21st century church.” She said “I declare that all things that are not of God that have been birthed in this place are cut off in the name of Jesus and that any false covenants, false creation or false birthings are cut off in Jesus name. We cancel it out and nail it to the cross of Calvary.

We pray sterility over it, miscarriage over it and abortion over it in Jesus name. Sterility. It will not be able to come to full term. But we speak life to it to birth things that are of God. We speak life to it and draw forth that life from it.

This is a beautiful place. You’ve created it to remind us of You, not any other god so we speak here this day that this land be a monument to You and not to any other god from this day forward. It will birth the children of God. The earth itself cries out to Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians to come out and come forth into the kingdom of God. So, we open up a well of salvation in this place. Pour out rivers of healing waters from this place.

From this day forth salvation will come forth from this place. This very earth, this very waterhole, this very rock is calling out to the people to come into the kingdom of God so we open up the wells of salvation. Pour out rivers of salvation from this place. We declare that healing rivers will pour forth from this place. We speak that the children of this nation of all ages will come into the kingdom.

The earth and the Holy Spirit call you into Jesus’ arms. I prophesy a huge revival across this nation! We break off the tomb over the womb in Jesus’ name. We break off a spirit of death over this place in Jesus’ name and we say that what You wanted from the beginning will come forth in this place. We speak that a nation can be born again in a day.

We declare that from this day forward, this will be a place of pilgrimage where people will meet with You just as people make pilgrimages to Jerusalem and Lourdes. This will be a place of pilgrimage because they will know they will meet You here. People will come to this water to be healed just as they went to the Pool of Siloam to be healed. We speak that the mountains and the trees and every living thing including human beings will sing praises to God. This will be a place of praise. “

One of the women prayed that the pastors speak to this rock for rivers of living water to pour forth. Another woman read Isaiah 26:1-2 – a song will be sung in the land of Judah, open the gates that righteousness may enter. Then v 14-15 – “they are now dead, they live no more; those departed spirits do not rise. You punished them and brought them to ruin and you wiped out all memory of them. You have enlarged the nation O Lord“

Norman read Isaiah 9:6-7 and prayed that the government of Australia would be upon the shoulders of Jesus and that there would be godly alignment of government structures. He prayed that the government would align itself with godly authority; that the government would have God’s heart, godly order, and ways.

Shirley Miller, Norman’s mother, said she remembered a song about ‘whither pilgrims are you going.” She said with joy we draw water from the wells of salvation.

Barbara asked for Aboriginal men to pray. Ps Peter Walker from Sydney spoke of John 4 the Samaritan woman at the well and the mountains worshipped on. He suggested that it was time to not worship as in the traditions of the past but to worship God in spirit and truth. He also spoke of the broken cisterns of Jeremiah’s time.

He said the Hebrew word of water is maim and the name of the rainbow serpent or water serpent in Aboriginal is Miamba. He said the woman who followed Paul in Phillipi had a spirit of divination or python spirit. He said rather than scattering let someone lead and we all focus on the one point.

So Barbara asked people to pray in tongues and to pray in concert as she prayed. She spoke to the python spirit and said,

“Your time has come! You are no longer welcome in this place! Your time has come! This is no longer your domain! We command you right now to come out of this waterhole in Jesus’ name! Leave this waterhole in Jesus’ name! Spirit of divination, leave this waterhole in Jesus’ name.

You’ll not drink from this waterhole any longer! This place will not support or nourish you any longer! We speak that this place will not receive you but will reject you! That the land itself will vomit you out! Push you out! It will not want you because you make it poisonous, barren, and lifeless.

We break off all restrictions associated with the python spirit in Jesus’ name and we cut off that spirit that would squeeze the life out of Christians in the name of Jesus.”

As Barbara continued to pray in this vein for some time, the people were singing “Oh the Blood of Jesus”, blowing the shofar, or praying. We were all of one accord. It was as if we’d all come to take this place back for the Lord and we meant business. There was much prayer.

Norman said this same spirit is a world ruler. In 1998 at Jerusalem, he had repented on behalf of Indigenous people and other Australians for the promotion of the rainbow serpent. He had also led a small prayer delegation on Sydney Harbor Bridge to take authority over the rainbow serpent in February 2001 after it had been flashed over the Bridge with the New Year’s Eve fireworks.

He had read Isaiah 27. He asked the people assembled at Uluru to repent for exporting the rainbow serpent overseas and taking financial advantage of it in Australia through merchandising. Non-indigenous people have to repent as well. We need to take responsibility and accountability. Those assembled did so.

Barbara said that before continuing with the rainbow serpent, if they could finish the python spirit. She wanted to pray in the opposite to fill the void. She said Gloria had broken off the curse of barrenness. As we’ve now broken off the restrictions and squeezing the life out of the python spirit so we need to pray in expansion. Someone can pray the Jabez prayer.

Barbara read Isaiah 54:1-4. “Sing O barren woman, you who never bore a child, burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband says the Lord. Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities. Do not be afraid you will not suffer shame. Do not fear disgrace, you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood”.

Barbara said, “This (Is 54:1-4) is a word from the Lord for the nation of Australia:

“God is going to enlarge the church in this nation. Where the church has been desolate, God is going to bring expansion. This is corporate. This is what God’s doing, not you or me. God is doing this through those assembled here. God is going to enlarge the place of your tent. When you go home, tell your pastors to build a bigger church. We’re gong to have spiritual children in place of the barrenness.”

Norman declared a church without walls and Barbara agreed – a church without walls, expanding into the community. Some churches in Australia are shrinking e.g., Catholic and Anglican. But God is going to bring expansion to His kingdom in Australia. There’s going to be revival.

Barbara then read from Isaiah 66:7-9. Can a country be born in a day? Yes! Can Australia be born again in a day? Yes!! Those gathered declared this. “Do I bring to the moment of birth and not give delivery?’ says the Lord. No!! Barbara declared, “There’s a delivery going on here. There’s a birthing going on here. God’s redemptive plans and purposes for Australia are being born here. “

Barbara Jennings said she saw a birthing canal and water and blood.

Ps Peter Dunn said the Lord had been speaking to other intercessors who weren’t here but who had been listening to the Lord in support of this program. Issues in our history are the treatment of Aborigines, prisoners rebelling against authority, the treatment of migrants, the Eureka Stockade etc. There is a connection between these things and what comes through a spirit of Baal.

He said the Afghan camel riders rode the land speaking the Qu’ran and Islam into the land and particularly into the waters. They called their religion a religion of submission, not of submission to the Lord but a conquering spirit. It’s a militant spirit.

Gloria Dyer aid the Lord showed her Baal worship here about 3 years ago.

Barbara said she fully agreed but was checking to see what Peter had in mind to do because if it was short, we could do it now but if it needed some time to do it properly, it would be good to finish the rainbow serpent prayer off because that was the present flow, and then come back to the Baal/Islam prayer.

Norman likened the Afghan/Muslim claim on Australia and intermarriage to Aborigines to the Gibeonite deception of Joshua and mentioned the rainbow serpent’s use of alcohol to control his people. Norman said that as gatekeepers and watchmen we had allowed things into the garden and God speaks against irresponsible watchmen. (We had wanted to deal with this Islam/Afghan issue at some time during the conference so it is good that it happened at the rock. We sensed before Uluru that it would be like a Mt Carmel confrontation.)

Peter said it was short so Barbara said for Peter to lead us now and he said he believed what was required to deal with Baal was a Joshua strategy of a 7 fold victory shout of saying the Lion of the tribe of Judah 7 times with increasing intensity. We did this and ended with more roars, shofar blowing, and shouts of victory.

Norman said this was part of the 7 shifts we’ve been doing. He then completed leading the prayer re the rainbow serpent. He read Isaiah 27.1:

“In that day, the Lord will punish with His sword, His fierce, great and powerful sword, Leviathan the gliding serpent, Leviathan the coiling serpent; He will slay the monster of the sea.” He said “I read this here in your presence today. God is going to slay this reptile of the sea.”

Norman said to pray that the tourism industry would not feed that thing. He asked if there was a tourist operator who could stand in the gap to repent. Geoffrey Stokes, an Aboriginal pastor from Kalgoorlie stood in the gap for tourist operators re the use of the rainbow serpent.

Norman asked people to blow their shofars and he did as well. Singing broke out. Barbara prayed. Norman prayed to crush the serpent and its eggs in the name of Jesus and he asked us to prophetically stamp our feet and crush its eggs. He said “No more hatching. No more hatching. We march along as the army of the living God with the serpent under our feet. We crush your head and we break your back in Jesus’ name. Let the roar go forth!” There were roars and more shofar blowing and flag waving.

Joye Alit led us in a song “And I will serve no foreign gods.”

Barbara declared,

“We speak that no longer will the people of the land call out to the rainbow serpent, Wanampi, for water as they have traditionally done in this place but to You O Lord for the natural and the living water. We declare that the people will see that the rainbow serpent has lost his power and we speak that they will no longer invoke his name.”

Muriel Jencke and Ruth Webb were holding a banner “Elohim Bara” declaring God the Creator.

During his session at the convocation, Ps Vuniani Nakauyaca, our speaker from Fiji, had prepared, with the Aboriginal leaders, some water that had been cleansed with salt, anointed with oil, been used to wash the feet of non-Indigenous leaders, and then mixed with the red earth of the land. It had then been blessed and prayed over and the land was dedicated to the Lord.

This was now to be used to cleanse and heal the Mutitjulu waterhole. He said:

“It is an honour for me to be here, especially after we have been through the process today of cleaning it up. We’ve done confession and cleansing. This is a wellspring. You know the spiritual significance of the place. It is time to make a declaration. Prophetically you speak what you want for your tribe or nation as you scoop up the soil and water with your hands and put it in the waterhole eg the end to tribal fighting etc. This place will be no longer sacred as it was but sacred to the Lord and everyone who comes here will be impacted and touched, including tourists. I’m sensing something opening up already. God is rejoicing already.”

He asked Ps Carl Musch to pray first. He said the first thing Jesus asked us to do was to repent, to change our thinking. The rock was the centre of the nation.

As the people, one by one, took the soil and water in their hands and cast it into the waterhole with their prayers, Gloria knelt before Brendon and said that she gave him back his shield that our women knocked from his hand. She asked forgiveness for Aboriginal women taking spiritual authority from the men and prophetically gave it back and asked God to raise him and them as mighty warriors for Him.

This was important in that it came in the opposite spirit of a story of the place where the python woman knocked his shield from the hands of a Liru or poisonous snake man and killed him in revenge because her nephew had been killed in revenge earlier by his tribe.

Muriel Jenke had given Norman some white stones in Thailand at the Bangkok Breakthrough conference, which he took to Uluru. The stones were thrown prophetically to the north, south, east, and west, 3 for the tribes and 3 with the scriptures in each direction. The white stones were calling new life to the tribes and the coloured stones declared the word of God.

Brendon Cook threw the last six stones together into the water. Five formed a cross with one stone further out as a Joshua stone. The cross was last year raised prophetically across the nation before the 24/7 convocation in Canberra by the Bendigo intercessors.

Roger Wall, one of the intercessors from our Tabernacle of David church in Cairns had a piece of coal that came from Wales and was given to our church by intercessors Gail and Rowland, believing to sow some seeds of the Welsh revival. He threw it into the Mutitjulu waterhole and prayed for revival over Australia and beyond, knowing that this was a birthing place.

The most amazing thing happened as we left the rock (Uluru). Veronica Coutts from Palm Island took a photograph of Uluru on her digital camera and it showed a snake with its head cut off (cut in two) and it was rising up from the bottom to the top of the rock and leaving with its eggs. John Andrews also captured it on their camera. The Lord had His way.

Witches had been trying to infiltrate and thwart our conference all week but they left after the prayer at Uluru showing that they could no longer draw power from the rock. We had witches stalking our worship team and we had to remove a few women dancing like snakes during worship.

We urge you to pray to continue to hold the territory taken as we know that witches from around the world come to Uluru and try to activate the powers of darkness. However, Dianne Taylor believes what happened is unstoppable and relates it to a prophecy of Dr Ian Pelser some years ago:

“As I watched it formed into the head of a spear and the shaft attached to it were the evangelists, pastors, and teachers. The head of the spear was the apostles and prophets that needed to meet and to gain strength in the truth that this really was what God was calling them for in this end-time work. Then as this was accepted it became the spearhead… and as the word went out and they became accepted and working in their positions the shaft became attached to the spear and itbecame ‘what was thrust into the earth, piercing the hearts of men in holy conviction unto salvation and the harvest became “unstoppable’.”

There are some conference videos available and a video of the prayer at Uluru is available:

https://reconciliationandpeace.org/store/



The Voice and Constitutional Recognition of First Nations People: For and Against Arguments

A historic vote has just taken place (Wednesday night 22.3.23) to pass the Referendum (Machinery Provisions) Amendment Bill in both houses of federal parliament. Opposition leader, Peter Dutton, gave Coalition support after securing some amendments in relation to the referendum on the Voice that will be held between October and December this year. (Cartoon by Independent News)

Whereas governments in the past had funded both the yes and no campaigns for referendums, the Albanese government had been planning to only fund an information campaign that would in essence be pro-voice and were seeking to censor misinformation, which people took to mean, no campaign arguments. They were also only granting tax-deductible gift recipient (DGR) status to the yes campaign. This was discriminatory. That mostly changed this week.

While Dutton was not able to secure funding for a no campaign, representations from the coalition have meant that the government will only be able to fund a neutral civics and education program so that any public funding on activities considered partisan can be legally challenged. Also, the no campaign can now benefit from DGR status.

There have been divisions with the referendum working group the government set up to advise it. These were over whether to include advice to executive government (public service and ministers) as well as parliament. When the Attorney General and Solicitor General raised concerns that including advice to executive government with the referendum working group, they were rejected. While the Solicitor Generals advice has not, and should be, made public, it appears the recommendation was to include “ministers of the crown” and not the public service.

Right up to the last minute, it looked like the Albanese government would end up in a big fight with the referendum working group over the final wording of what would be put to the public in the referendum. However, it was the Prime Minister (PM) himself who had added “executive government” into the wording for the Voice referendum he gave at the Garma Festival. So, despite the possible legal minefield and possible bogging down of government, the PM has agreed to their advice. As the PM has said in the past, it would be a brave government that did not take the advice of the Voice even if it is not a veto.

After cabinet approval, the PM (Albo as he is called) met with some of the 21 members of the Voice for a press conference on 23.3.23 to confirm the wording that would be put to the Australian public on referendum day. The consensus was nearly not there in time but the deadline was Thursday as there would be a final vote in parliament next week on the wording when a constitutional alteration bill will be put to parliament.

Albo was a bit teary as he is staking his political career on the referendum’s success as it will be a big part of his legacy. Albo’s draft amendment was, the Voice “may make representations to parliament and the executive government on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.”

The final wording the referendum working group put to cabinet who agreed to it is, “A proposed law: To alter the constitution to recognize the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. Do you approve this proposed alteration?”

On face value, this looks as simple a proposition as Albo keeps maintaining. However, the documentation accompanying it also says, that if it succeeds, the constitution will state that, the “Voice may make representations” to the Parliament and the government “on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.”

This could mean anything and everything and it will include the public service. The details of the composition, functions and powers of the Voice will be worked out after the vote which means that there is still not the detail that many would like.

Prof Megan Davis of the referendum working group released the nine key design principles that will guide the Voice with details to be worked out after the referendum. The working group will stay in place to advise the government for a long time into the future till the Voice is established. Some of the design principles were in The Australian 23.3.23

  • That the Voice provides independent advice to the parliament and the government
  • That it is chosen by First Nations people based on the wishes of local communities
  • That it is representative of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities
  • That it’s empowering, community-led, inclusive, respectful, culturally-informed and gender-balanced and includes youth
  • That the Voice is accountable and transparent and works alongside
  • existing organisations
  • The Voice will not have a veto and will not have a program delivery function

See the ABC report on announcements : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dwC0xmBCKA

Megan Davis and other members of the Uluru Statement of the Heart visited Yarrabah Aboriginal community near Cairns for a meeting on Voice Treaty Truth on 10 April 2022. Why were they there? Because one of the few surviving campaigners of the successful 1967 referendum, Alf Neal, lives there. The 1967 referendum to count Aboriginal people in the constitution and give the federal government the power to legislate for Indigenous people had bipartisan support and was passed with over 90% support. Norman and I were invited to attend by the Mayor of Yarrabah, Ross Andrews and is pictured here with Alf’s son, former mayor Percy Neal.

So, what are the arguments for and against the Voice that people have been discussing?

Arguments for the Voice

  • There should be constitutional recognition of Australia’s First Nations people. When the constitution was written in 1901, it was about the states coming together to form a commonwealth and so the focus was on delineating states’ rights and powers and commonwealth rights and powers – shared sovereignty if you want to put it that way. The First Peoples of Australia were left out of the constitution and this is a worthy argument to recognize them in it. This is why some commentators are saying that the wording of the referendum vote should be in two parts as there is a lot of support for constitutional recognition but a lot of debate about how to do it.
  • First Nations people should be consulted on matters affecting them. Few would argue in principle about this. Again, it is about the process.
  • It is another step towards reconciliation. There have been a number of significant steps in this direction. Albo is saying it would break the hearts of First Nations people for the referendum to fail and set back Indigenous affairs.
  • Albo is saying that Australians would feel better about themselves if the referendum passes and Australia would look better in the eyes of the world. (See above video)

Launch of the Yes Campaign

The Yes Campaign was launched in Adelaide on 23.2.23 after workshops on strategies. The yes campaign director, Dean Parkin was upbeat. The Paul Ramsay Foundation, Australia’s largest philanthropic body, announced $5m in funding for Australians for Indigenous Constitutional Recognition (AICR), which will be the movement’s fundraising and governance body.

Their website, yes23.com.au, provides talking points for the volunteers it will recruit, and provide posters and flyers for the campaign.

The AICR co-chair, Rachel Perkins, well-known filmmaker and daughter of famous activist Charlie Perkins, said the campaign now had “tremendous momentum.”

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/feb/23/voice-to-parliament-yes-campaign-launches-with-pledge-to-take-conversation-to-the-people

Brief Background

Before going to the against arguments, I will give a little background on the long journey to recognition which I covered in detail in my book Secrets and Lies: The Shocking Truth of Recent Australian Aboriginal History, A Memoir. See www.barbara-miller-books.comThe big question is how to do that.

  • Former Prime Minister John Howard wanted Indigenous recognition in the preamble to the constitution but First Nations people rejected this as not enough
  • There have been a lot of processes over the years. Ps Munganbana Norman Miller campaigned for recognition of Indigenous people and removal of racism from the constitution based on the Expert Panel’s advice. He travelled Australia at his own expense and gathered over 5,000 signatures on a petition on these issues which was presented to federal parliament.
Norman presenting his giant boomerang with over 300 signatures on the back opposing racism in the constitution & supporting Indigenous recognition in the constitution to then speaker Bronwyn Bishop with Warren Entsch MP, Barbara Miller, and former Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt at Parliament House Canberra 27.11.13
Norman presenting his Miller Boomerang Petition with over 5,000 signatures to then speaker of the house with then clerk of the house, Warren Entsch MP, and Barbara Miller at Parliament House Canberra 8.2.16. It opposed racism in the constitution & supported Indigenous recognition in the constitution. It was tabled in Parliament by Entsch

Warren Entsch MP Presents the Boomerang Petition to Parliament on behalf of Indigenous Leader Norman Miller https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LSEErGV1rI&feature=youtu.be

  • The Uluru Statement from the Heart 40 years after the 1967 referendum came up with Voice Treaty Truth. The game plan had changed, apparently advised by sympathetic constitutional conservatives.
  • The coalition government was prepared to work towards the Voice but to legislate it not have it enshrined in the constitution, and they continued consultations on how to design the Voice. Out of this came the Calma Langton report on the Indigenous Voice Co-design process.
  • The Albanese government after winning the election committed to a referendum to enshrine the Voice in the constitution but have been prepared to release little information on it saying that would be worked out after the vote.

What are the opponents of the Voice saying?

Two no campaigns are being led by Sen Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and Nyunggai Warren Mundine, both Aboriginal. A group of traditional people from around the Northern Territory who oppose the Voice travelled to Canberra but were not given the courtesy of meeting Linda Burney, Minister for Indigenous Australians or the PM on March 22 when discussions were underway at Parliament House. Yet the PM said the Voice was informed from the bottom up not the top down. So here are the arguments:

  • It will give us a race-based constitution and divide the country by race. Even the word apartheid has come up, and lack of equality of citizenship
  • First Nations people will be double dipping with 2 “votes” or representations so that though they are only 3.2% of the population, they will have a special say over matters affecting all Australians
  • However, they won’t be voted in, they will be selected. So, it will not be a democratic process.
  • There are already 11 First Nations MPs which is higher than their proportion of the population.
  • There are hundreds of Indigenous organisations and over 80 national organisations with a voice to the government already and have been advising the government for a long time.
  • There is a Coalition of Peaks consisting of all these national organisations who negotiated with the government the updating of the Closing the Gap initiative. They are an effective voice already.
  • There have been comments on Sky News re the National Indigenous Australian Agency having in its charter to be a voice to the government and it is very well-funded to do so but we must realize it is really a government department staffed by public servants, many of whom are Indigenous.
  • Concerns that the Referendum group advising government are an elite or “aristocracy” and they will ensure they are still seated at the table as part of the Voice after the referendum.
  • The biggest concern is that it may not make any difference to the disadvantage and problems on the ground for First Nations people but only create another bureaucracy that will divert a large amount of money from the real needs of people at Alice Springs and many other places.
  • There may be legal challenges in the high court and judicial activism over the parliament or government not asking for their advice before making decisions or for not taking it. There have been arguments for and against by legal advisors in the Constitutional Experts Group e.g. Prof Greg Craven and Fr Frank Brennan who both support the Voice but have concerns. Prof Craven is also a member of Uphold and Recognise which seeks to uphold the constitution and recognize Indigenous people.
  • Also, it could bog down the machinery of government and particularly of publicservants if they have to consult the advice of the Voice on just about everything. This is the reference to Executive Government which the Referendum group would not bend on despite the reported request from the Attorney General and the Solicitor General. It also appears from the statement today that National Cabinet and state governments will not be within the scope of the Voice.
  • While there is a lot of information on what the Voice could look like e.g. the Langton- Calma report, the Albanese government have not said if they accept any of this report or not. Also, they have given out as little information as possible hoping that people will vote for it because of goodwill. This has led to a lot of confusion however and aloss of support. One example is Peter Dutton’s 15 questions submitted some time ago that have not yet been answered though today’s statement will go somewhat towards answering them. As this was an election tactic of a small target with little information the ALP used successfully to win the election, they seem to hope it will work with the referendum.
  • It will be a trojan horse because, according to the Uluru Statement which the government accepts, the next step will be treaty or makarrata and truth-telling. There are concerns that demands for sovereignty will lead to Australia being divided into two nations. There are concerns treaties are meant to be between two nations but there are examples overseas of treaties between nations and their Indigenous people.
  • There is a concern, which is under the surface, that First Nations people will want redress or compensation for lost lands and autonomy etc.
  • Opposition to the Voice is from both the left and right of Aboriginal leaders. Sen Lidia Thorpe does not want First Nations representation in the “colonizing constitution” and has proclaimed herself one of the leaders of the Blak Sovereignty movement. Those who endorsed the Uluru Statement were hand-picked from meetings around Australiawhich were by invitation only or attended by those in the know. Some sovereignty supporters went to Uluru anyway and walked out because they did not agree with the decisions. They were in the minority.
  • There has been no public consultation process, no constitutional convention with stakeholders and negotiations have been held in secret.

Albo said from the outset that he didn’t need bipartisan support and there has been little attempt to garner it. Referendums in Australia don’t tend to pass without bipartisan support and rarely do anyway unless they are about minor changes. The Nationals have opposed it and the federal Liberals will probably oppose it in its current form.

Former deputy prime minister John Anderson, Warren Mundine and others are members of “Recognise a Better Way,” a campaign that argues the Voice is “the wrong way to recognise Aboriginal people or help Aboriginal Australians in need”. https://theconversation.com/former-deputy-prime-minister-john-anderson-joins-group- spearheading-no-campaign-on-the-voice-195571

Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has moved from the Recognise a Better Way campaign to the no campaign of Fair Australia of Advance Australia, saying she does not want Australia divided by race https://www.skynews.com.au/australia-news/voice-to-parliament/northern-territory- senator-jacinta-price-defects-to-new-campaign-opposing-the-voice-to-parliament-ahead-of- referendum/news-story/e4076715009ebfc853e22af35b13941c

Nevertheless, Australia is at a crossroads on this matter of dealing with the Uluru Statement from the Heart. It is a momentous time. However, there is no doubt that this will be a radical alteration to Australia’s constitution with unforeseeable consequences if the yes vote is successful.