ON BEHALF OF FAIR AUSTRALIA
Dear Editor,
The ‘yes’ campaign is trying to play us for fools!
For months they’ve been telling us on repeat that the Voice is not about division.
They’ve been telling anyone who will listen that there would be tens of thousands of Australians coming together on the weekend to support their campaign to rewrite the Constitution.
Well, where were they?
To be honest, I reckon I’ve seen more everyday Aussies at FAIR AUSTRALIA events over the past couple of months.
As one newspaper put it, the ‘yes’ campaign “drew underwhelming numbers”1.
But this is not about the few ‘yes’ diehards who turned up at their rally.
It’s about the millions and millions of Aussies who didn’t.
It’s about the ordinary men and women who will decide this referendum.
People like you and me.
They tell me that they are worried about the divisions that will be created in this country if the other side manages to cement the divisive Voice into our Constitution forever.
Because it’s a fact they can’t escape that if this referendum gets up, we’ll have a national rulebook that treats one race of Australians differently to another.
That gives one group of Australians an extra say over our democracy because of the colour of their skin.
And that’s just NOT what this great nation should be about.
But Aussies are also telling me they’re worried about what damage the divisive Voice will cause.
They’ve heard Voice architect Thomas Mayo say that the referendum is a “first step … the vital step” to making non-Indigenous Australians “pay the rent” through “reparations and compensation”.
How much will that cost Australian families already struggling to make ends meet?
Aussies are wondering if the Voice is also the “first step” to abolishing Australia Day.
After watching the performance of Indigenous Australians minister Linda Burney these past few weeks, how could you not wonder whether our national day is on the chopping block.
But if we stand up and say ‘NO’?
Senator Patrick Dodson – PM Anthony Albanese’s “special envoy” for the Voice – said Australia would “have no integrity” and lose our ability to criticise human rights abuses in foreign countries.
The lead ‘yes’ campaigner in WA said Australia would be considered a “racist, uncaring country” if it voted against the divisive Voice.
And they say their campaign is not about division!
You’re no fool. And neither am I.
That’s why we’re voting NO to the Voice of Division.
Yours in unity,
Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price
on behalf of FAIR AUSTRALIA
NAB CLOSURE IN TATURA
Carl Walters, chair Tatura Community Plan Committee
Dear banking sector (or ‘Big Four’).
I felt compelled to write to bring to your collective attention an announcement that has been coming for a bit, based on the behaviour of our last remaining bank in Tatura.
The NAB has advised that it will be closing in two months, which will leave our town of just under 5000 without a bank that is accessible.
Previous advice after the last bank closure was to use branches in Kyabram or Shepparton, but with the shabby level of public transport, that probably doesn’t help us much.
It also pushes people to travel and shop outside our community, which is well serviced at present.
Anyway despite all the rhetoric about supporting regional towns and the importance of our rural communi-ties, you all, the ‘Big Four’, have voted with your feet.There have been approaches to our local council and politicians but again more rhetoric and email trails, hand-wringing and bemoaning what is going on.
I am over the placatory terminology that we see sent back by the spin departments – you actually need a kick up the proverbial, which is what the rural banking inquiry has been hearing from across Australia.
The leaders of your organisations should be embarrassed.
Our community is growing rapidly and attracting plenty of attention but this is just a slap.
Everyone knows that the profits are driven by the big end of town but we also thought there was a moral or social obligation to support those who were in need of real service.
Recent announcements of banks’ significant profits just rub salt into the wounded rural areas.
Anyway, I hope this attracts your attention and perhaps allows some level of calling out the need for a bit of regard for the rural communities and what is ‘service’!
It needs a serious response soon before every bank outside our major centres is closed and it’s too late.
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editorial@sheppartonadviser.com.au
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