AS AN undecided voter at the upcoming Voice to Parliament referendum, I have effectively turned off listening to the debate. My head is starting to hurt from the constant media bombardment and hatred it has generated.
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According to the Yes campaigners, if I vote for No I'm a racist, stupid and a right winger. The No campaigners say if I vote Yes I'm a communist, an inner city trendy and segregationist. I am none of the above.
The case put up for Yes is that it is the right thing to do and for No it is divisive and has unknown consequences for the country.
Too much of the debate has been to look at the rights and wrongs of the past, all races have suffered from dispossession and cruelty, whether you are descendants of first nations people, convicts or refugees. Constitutional change should be about looking to the future, as one people, for all Australians.
When it comes to polling day, I have two choices. To leave the ballot paper blank or toss a coin.
Paul Terrett, Devon Hills
The voice should be added to a new constitution
THE PM has got the timing of the referendum wrong. Mixed messages from both sides of the debate have festered confusion in the community.
The Yes campaign has wrongly suggested this will be the last and only opportunity to implement one of the key elements of the Uluru statement.
If the Yes vote fails, there will in fact be one final opportunity to implement ' The Voice'
We have to look at the bigger picture.
If the No vote holds sway in the upcoming referendum, it won't be the end of the world.
The Queen has died. Australia is growing up and moving away from its colonial past. It will, at some point soon, become a Republic.
By necessity, a new Republic will need a new Constitution. In my opinion the Voice, if anywhere, belongs in a new Constitution and will be aided by a groundswell of citizens looking for a new culturally inclusive Australia.
I can't help feeling that the push for the Voice should have been done in conjunction with a push for an Australian Republic. The Voice is something shiny and new. It does not belong as an addendum to an old, out of date Constitution.
Paul Swiatkowski, Grindelwald
Downhearted, broken dreams that never really started
YES, the tone of the referendum debate has become disheartened, Tony Newport (The Examiner, September 30).
Since the Voice to Parliament (VTP) commenced there has been extreme behaviour from both the Yes and No sides of the campaign. To deny this is to be a denialist.
Since the inception of the VTP campaign, families have stopped communicating because of the voice. To deny this is to be a denialist.
From the start of the VTP campaign businesses have all clambered to be social conscious warriors. They have lost sight of their core responsibilities to their customers, their employees and their shareholders. Case in point Qantas. Result being business has been impacted.
What really bothers me is there are so many people who just won't accept the fact, in many instances, there are two sides to each debate. Which, if debated in a respectful manner, is fine. Yet what I am seeing is quite the opposite. The number of Australians, on both sides of the debate, calling another Australian a racist, worries me greatly.
The Voice to Parliament hasn't united Australia. If anything, it's divided Australia like nothing ever has before. Nor like anything ever will again. Yes, I am disheartened.
Anthony Camino, Westbury
September wobbles
IT WAS good to finally see Collingwood overcome the September wobbles after 65 years. People have often spoken about the collywobbles, however the September wobbles have been around much longer.
KISS at grand final
A SPECTACULAR Kiss off for the AFL Grand Final! There is life after 70.
Ed Sianski, West Moonah
Kerry Blundell, Norwood
Thank you for your service, Dan
HISTORY will look kindly on Daniel Andrews, who stood his ground when some others were prepared to shovel the bodies of disabled, elderly and immune-compromised people into mass graves at a key moment in the ongoing CoViD pandemic. He also stood in the way of some of the Abbott government's more pernicious attempts to destroy the NDIS. Thank you for your service, Dan.
James Newton, Newstead
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