Wilcannia’s pandemic experience shows why the town’s Aboriginal community needs a Voice, but there is scepticism towards what is on offer.
Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.Robyn Ebsworth is torn. She is convinced the Voice could be a good thing for her people but is fearful how it will end if the history of Wilcannia repeats and all that is promised comes to not much. She is standing by the Darling River, pointing to a happy place from her childhood, but knows that for too many children in this town, life without change will be hard, too short and full of sorrow.
For too many of them, life is shaped by unemployment, overcrowded housing, grog, drugs, domestic violence, chronic illness and suicide. In 2022, Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders living in remote and very remote areasIf constitutional recognition of Australia’s Indigenous people through a Voice to parliament won’t bring meaningful change to a place like Wilcannia, we are asking the wrong question on October 14.
Hynch knows what Wilcannia needs. Everyone in town knows it. Better housing. More shops. Jobs. Better education. Better healthcare. More community benefit from government money being spent. She doesn’t see how a Voice will deliver any of these things. She is more interested in holding Murdi Paaki and government agencies to account for what they say they are already doing to improve the lot of black Australia.
Such is the apathy towards the Voice among some Wilcannia elders, the town’s sole representative at Uluru disavows the need for constitutional reform. William Murray, a Wilcannia resident since 1965 and a long-serving former member of the NSW Aboriginal Land Council, was a delegate at the First Nations Constitutional Convention where historic consensus was reached between disparate mobs on what was needed to recognise Indigenous Australians. His name is on the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
He pointed out that Aboriginal communities in far western NSW tended to move between towns up and down the Darling River and that a high percentage of households, particularly in Wilcannia, had long-term visitors from outside of town or sheltered people who would otherwise be homeless. Given these circumstances, there was no realistic way for people infected with COVID to isolate at home.
“Basically, what was in that paper is what happened,” says Richard Weston, the chief executive of Maari Ma. “They could have done better, we think, if they had just taken that on board.” Nola Whyman, the director of operations at Maari Ma Health, was born in Wilcannia, where she first trained as an Aboriginal health worker 30 years ago. She is also the aunt of Darren Bugmy and became the first known community transmission case in Wilcannia after she came into close contact with a young man from Walgett who’d travelled through Dubbo on his way to the funeral.
Whyman says Wilcannia was sick, frightened and forgotten. “Some of the responses from the community were just dismissed. I believe a Voice will mean governments have to listen. They would have to give a proper response rather than just dismissing it. It is accountability.” In the meantime, Wilcannia’s cycle continues. Three months ago, Darren Bugmy’s mum Chelsea died at the age of 46. The earth that covers both her and Darren’s resting place in the cemetery is still loose, having not yet baked hard throughout the summer months.
Robyn Ebsworth is also at the Dutton house. Her partner is Glenys’ brother. She was born in Bourke and now lives in Dubbo but grew up in Wilcannia, where she first lived with her mum and step-dad, as an 11-year-old girl on the banks of the Darling, or Baaka. She is 61 and the sort of woman who likes to shake things up whenever she comes to town. She knows something is needed for Wilcannia and is willing to take a punt on the Voice. “They can’t just leave us like this,” she says.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Would a Voice help Wilcannia? Elders deliver a resounding yeah, nahWilcannia’s pandemic experience shows why the town’s Aboriginal community needs a Voice, but there is scepticism towards what is on offer.
Read more »
Pat Dodson, on the comeback from cancer, gives his voice to The VoiceSenator Patrick Dodson, “the father of reconciliation”, finds himself appalled by the approach of Peter Dutton’s Opposition to an Indigenous Voice to parliament.
Read more »
Pat Dodson, on the comeback from cancer, gives his voice to The VoiceSenator Patrick Dodson, “the father of reconciliation”, finds himself appalled by the approach of Peter Dutton’s Opposition to an Indigenous Voice to parliament.
Read more »
Pat Dodson, on the comeback from cancer, gives his voice to The VoiceSenator Patrick Dodson, “the father of reconciliation”, finds himself appalled by the approach of Peter Dutton’s Opposition to an Indigenous Voice to parliament.
Read more »
Indigenous Voice to Parliament: Tracking the Voice decline starts with AlbaneseHaving made a hot mess of the referendum, Albanese is now offering to work with the opposition in the unlikely event the Yes case wins. It’s all a year too late.
Read more »
Voice to parliament: Anthony Albanese rallies support for the Voice nine days out from referendumPrime Minister Anthony Albanese has urged Australians to back the Voice at the upcoming referendum; airlines have cancelled almost 100 domestic flights at Sydney Airport. Here’s how the day unfolded.
Read more »