In 1924, on the centenary of Hume and Hovell’s expedition from the Yass district to Port Philip, commemorative obelisks were erected along the route. It is worth stopping to read the inscriptions. At the junction of Growler’s Gully Road and the Maroondah Highway near Merton the plaque reads:
“They blazed the track that we might inherit the land.”
We should reflect on that inscription as we consider whether to vote Yes or No in the referendum on the Voice. Are our values unchanged from those of the good citizens of this region 99 years ago? Are we to be swayed by the protestations of current naysayers? Or are we to give a voice to the disinherited? And should it be enshrined in our nation’s core statement of governing principles - the Constitution?
Voting YES will enshrine a matter of principle. Determining how a Voice is to operate is administrative detail. Decisions on that will be debated by Parliament in 2024, the bicentenary of Hume and Hovell’s blazing of a track through the homelands of our First Nations.
Yours faithfully,
Jeremy Madin, Merijig
