Comment on Lack of understanding about the Voice 'alarming' as referendum approaches, filmmaker says
unionagainstdhmo@aussie.zone 1 year agoSomeone made a comment that the Voice would grant powers to a specific race in the Constitution and you loftily replied that you would not be deleting their post but their argument was both ‘wrong’ and ‘misinformation’.
That comment was reported to me as misinformation (which I should have made clear) and it was: the alteration does not specify that the members of the Voice must be Indigenous or Torres Strait Islanders and the Voice is not about race but about a cultural group.
it takes a wild interpretation of the wording to conclude special parliamentary representation is not power
That isn’t entirely true either, from the alteration:
the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice may make representations to the Parliament and the Executive Government of the Commonwealth
To “make representations to” means to complain or express your opinion (Source). Anyone can already do that, sure if the parliament were to legislate that they were given say an office in parliament house or formal opportunities to address parliament - but that’s not what we’re being asked to vote on.
Removing posts and banning is always an option, but it is used sparingly and never due to disagreement, only on the grounds of breaking the rules of Aussie.zone or this community’s interpretation of those rules. I agree that the way I responded may have appeared to be threatening and apologise for that.
Affidavit@aussie.zone 1 year ago
I appreciate now, given the context of user report(s), the reason you specified you weren’t deleting that person’s post.
Regarding your insistence that the user was spreading misinformation however, I believe that you are splitting hairs. That user did not specify the members would be indigenous, they said it would be racist to include specific powers to a specific race in the Constitution. I already explained my viewpoint that representation is power, a view I am sure most people who support the Voice would agree with given a different context such as the one I earlier described.
if the reason for the ‘misinformation’ accusation is using the labels ‘race’ and ‘racism’ to describe indigenous people and singling them out respectively, then by that logic it is also ‘misinformation’ in other contexts too. If a shop refuses to serve someone because they are aboriginal, they’re not being ‘racist’ because aboriginals are a ‘cultural group’ not a race?
Note how the following amendments do not change the validity of the argument one bit:
The word ‘disingenuous’ is used too often in debate I think, but I’ll be honest, that is what it looks like people are being here; intentionally misunderstanding the ‘No’ arguments and shutting them down with accusations of lies and misinformation, all so that they don’t have to acknowledge that their points are valid.
unionagainstdhmo@aussie.zone 1 year ago
Anyone can make a representation to parliament, so the alteration technically doesn’t give them any special abilities. They only have power if the government can be forced to listen to them or even publish what they say. Does that not invalidate their point? Furthermore, by using the terms race and racism their point is invalid - your amendment does have a valid point and that is what should be being debated and ultimately what we a voting on. However, with all of the lies and fear mongering, I doubt many people will be voting on that issue which is disappointing.
On the point of people avoiding arguments by labeling as racists, *phobes, bigots, victim-blaming, liars, etc. is something which I have seen alot of on here and it’s quite a difficult thing to deal with but I do find it to be destructive to arguments. Infact, I have fallen victim to it in the past on the issue of bicycles and motorcycles on roads. And I think you would have seen many of the initial comments on the megathread were just saying that No voters are racists. Or you get horrible posts like this.
I want to handle this better going forwards, it’s just going to require a lot of unpopular actions
abhibeckert@beehaw.org 1 year ago
But the voice doesn’t do that.
It gives the government specific powers to advise itself on an important issue that needs to be worked on.
It doesn’t give indigenous people any powers at all. Look, the proposed constitutional amendment is a few short paragraphs. Show me the line of text that gives special powers to a specific race. It’s not there.
PS: And it’s not a waste of tax payer’s money, because our budget is currently bleeding money on attempted resolutions that are not working. The body will, if it works as intended, stop the government from wasting tax payer’s money.
Affidavit@aussie.zone 1 year ago
I have commented on this post explaining my issue with how the ‘Yes’ camp are using their own creative interpretation of what words mean to argue that the ‘No’ camp are spreading ‘misinformation’. I’m not interested in having further dialogue on what ‘special’ means, nor ‘race’, nor ‘power’, nor ‘represent’. If you are interested in my thoughts on the matter you may read my other comments here.
I don’t mind taxpayer funds supporting people in need. I do mind taxpayer funds being wasted on a lengthy campaigns and pointless referendums. I am angered that there are so many people struggling to stay in shelter and feed themselves and this is what the government has deemed the priority.
I can’t see myself voting ‘Yes’. I do not agree with inserting (more) race based language into the Constitution and I think it inappropriate to have a body dedicated to supporting a specific race. I will likely vote ‘No’ rather than leave the ballot blank. It looks like the proposal will fail, and it’s my hope that the numbers will be devastating enough that this pointless and divisive issue doesn’t come up again for at least a couple of decades, and our useless representatives can focus their attention on matters of importance.
Who am I kidding… It’s going to be that dumb republic crap next, isn’t it?