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The Why of The Voice

Lynne Reeder • April 3, 2023

Compelling Statements Inspired by Indigenous Mindsets.

The Voice to parliament was a key recommendation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, a document written and endorsed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders in 2017 to change the Constitution and improve representation of Indigenous Australians.

 

The Australian Compassion Council brings the work of the global Charter for Compassion to Australia, with its overall vision of Deep Dreaming Australia: A Continent for Compassion and a continent for compassion couldn’t be dreamed into being without the essential inclusion of Indigenous Australians.

 

We know that unless all Australians are supportive of the national referendum it will not succeed, and to make our contribution - the Charter for Compassion, Australia invited those in its networks to develop compelling statements on the ‘Why of the Voice’.

 

Using the five mindsets as articulated by Dr Tyson Yunkaporta in his book Sand Talk provided a respectful starting point for this project to engage with the Voice by honouring and valuing Indigenous forms of knowing.

 

The Charter for Compassion, Australia considers that the upcoming referendum may well provide a turning point for Australia as we reach across our common humanity to discover a history that provides us all with a deeper sense of wonder of that story.

 

In all, 24 statements have been captured in this book, including from: Prof Peter Yu, DVC First Nations, ANU; Prof Andrew Gunstone, DVC Reconciliation, Federation University Australia; Dr Ursula Stephens, CEO Catholic Services Australia; Shane Howard, AM – singer, songwriter; Margaret Hepworth - Director, Initiatives of Change; Hugh Mackay, AO - Author and social scientist; Petrina Barson, GP and Director, Centre for a Compassionate Society; among others

 

Members of the Australian Compassion Council respectfully acknowledge that there are some Aboriginal Australians who, for a range of reasons disagree with the Voice to Parliament.

 

The reason we support an Indigenous Voice is that we feel everyone has a right to be heard particularly when it comes to government policies that affect their quality of life.

 

Dr Andrew Gunstone, Director of the newly established Centre for Reconciliation, Truth, and Justice at Federation University Australia, states that decades of national and international evidence clearly demonstrate that Indigenous policies have a significantly higher chance of success when Indigenous peoples are genuinely engaged in the design and implementation of these policies.

 

The ACC supports a wider Australian discussion on this public policy issue because, if it’s done well, then the Voice will not only give Aboriginal Australians the opportunity to be heard - it will provide all Australians new opportunities to listen to the wisdom inherent in Indigenous knowledge.

 

It is hoped that the heartfelt statements in this book will support voters in coming to the Voice from their calm and creative selves – where they can see the possibilities of engaging with an Australian history that is 60,000 years old.

 

To give one example of these statements - Hugh Mackay, AO - Psychologist, Author and National Ambassador of the Australian Compassion Council in his contribution wrote:


We humans – all of us – exist in a shimmering, vibrating web of interconnectedness and interdependence.  To deny that is to deny the deepest truth about our humanity.  The proposed Indigenous Voice to the Australian parliament is an opportunity for this nation to acknowledge that, from the time of European settlement, we failed to acknowledge our kinship with First Nations people.  The Voice will right that wrong by declaring, at last: ‘We are listening.  We hear you. Only you can tell us how, together, we can address the problems created by the collision of our cultures. We are one with you.’   


The full publication is available at- https://www.charterforcompassion.com.au/why-of-the-voice/

2024 National Day of Compassion

By Lynne Reeder • October 7, 2024
Each year the Australian Compassion Council holds a National Day of Compassion, to provide a meaningful opportunity for all Australians to participate in learning about and in practicing compassion. This is the fourth year this National Day has been convened and each National Day has a theme and in 2024 our Theme is Compassion and Deep Connection which featured six facets of deep connection including: Contested spaces - Indigenous Justice - Peace Culture - Repairing Relationships - Innate Connection with our Environment - Dealing with our Distracted World. The National Day started with a launch that included presentations from the CEO of the global Charter for Compassion, Marilyn Turkovich on the Charter’s involvement in the 19th World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates – with the Australian Charter Ambassador, Hugh Mackay, AO on Deep Connection in Community - and with the National Lead of the Australian Compassion Council, Dr Lynne Reeder on a Compassionate City project entitled Seeds of Compassion along with some inspiring young students and their compassionate wishes for their city. You can access the video recordings of this day here:

Seeds of Compassion – Final Report

By Brett Allen • October 7, 2024
The purpose of this project was to plant seeds of compassion to promote Ballarat as a caring city underpinned by the compassionate wishes of its future leaders. Nearly 100 wishes were received from Ballarat students in Year 6 and Year 10 classes and the collected wishes were subject to a content analysis and were written up under the following five headings: 1) INCLUSION - ACCEPTANCE – BELONGING 2) RESPECT - UNITY – PEACE 3) SAFE – PROTECTED – COMPASSIONATE 4) COHESION – HARMONY – EQUALITY 5) THRIVING – MEANING – POTENTIAL  The student’s wishes will be distributed across Ballarat, and they will also be circulated to cities around the world who have signed the Charter for Compassion. By sharing this report globally, we offer these cities a valuable demonstration project for them to consider replicating, and Compassionate Ballarat will continue to work with the City Council to make tangible, as many of these wishes as possible.

Compassion and Care Award 2024 Award Winner - Maggie Phillips

By Lynne Reeder • September 2, 2024
In 2024 the Compassion and Care Award was won by Maggie Phillips for her participation in the World's Greatest Shave and fundraising for the Leukaemia Foundation to spread awareness and educate us all about the 140,000 families who face blood cancer right now, and that it takes the lives of 16 people every day. Maggie’s efforts in raising money goes towards those individuals in the community suffering, and into research to prevent future pain. Maggie shows true compassion and care for members of the community which we are very grateful for. In 2024 the finalists in this category included: Adelle Weidemann, Charlotte Gibson, Eva Xie, Madelaine Hutchinson and Maggie Phillips. Compassionate Ballarat congratulates all the award finalists and winner for the compassionate work they do in the community and in recognition Ben Kelly, Chair of Compassionate Ballarat personally presented this Award to Maggie.
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