I’ve been reading a lot of opinions about The Voice referendum lately as the vote approaches and I can’t help but be saddened but not surprised by the vitriol being spewed out from the ‘NO’ campaign.

If the opposition put as much energy into alleged sexual assault in parliament, Robo-debt, dysfunctional Prime Ministers, pork barrelling, paying multiple millions to consultants,  and Attorney Generals on alleged rape charges then perhaps I could hear the outrage.

I’m not sure what they’re scared of? Peter Dutton gives the impression he’d love a world of middle aged xenophobes and his political background and delivery continues to have that edge of cruelty about it.

Some of the moderates have been using Jacinta Price as a poster girl for the ‘NO’ campaign. Just because she’s indigenous doesn’t guarantee having credibility.

She reckons colonisation has been great for the First Australians. That’s exactly what I was taught in school in the 60’s. There’s actually a bit more to it Jacinta, and incredibly it happened within our living memory.

So Jacinta wants us to ignore the brutal genocide, removal from land and families, slavery and torture, deaths in custody, the poor life expectancy, the disgraceful education standards and the reality that despite fighting in four wars, aboriginals weren’t given the right to vote until 1967.

Our black history is shameful and it’s not that long ago that the atrocities and mistreatment occurred.

 I’m sixty years old. My Dad was born in 1915 and my Mum in 1922. My Mum’s Dad arrived in 1884 from Scotland at the age of 21.

What happened to the past generations of the oldest living civilisation on earth didn’t occur in 1066 or 4AD. These immoral actions were, in my case, occurring only a grandparent-ago

Having read history from both sides of the cultural divide such as A Nest of Hornets and the biographies of Archie Roach and Sir Doug Nicholls along with the definitive documentary The First Australians, it’s been well documented that there has been atrocities committed over many decades since colonisation.

No one is saying the current generation should take the blame, but can we just listen and understand what it must have been like and how you as a descendent would feel?

I personally believe we are selective when it comes to empathy as a nation.

Empathy is having the capacity and understanding to walk in someone else’s shoes. It doesn’t mean you have to agree with what actions they take or what they say, just listen and understand.

As a nation we always rise to the occasion in natural disasters or telethons. It’s how we’ve always been. Generous to the core.

Unfortunately when it comes to matters pertaining to indigenous people it seems to go in the too hard basket. When it comes to celebrating aboriginal culture it has to be on our white terms.

If you’re a successful aboriginal athlete, footballer or artist, it’s the only time you’ll see a positive First Nations story in the Murdoch Press.

When it comes to The Voice, suddenly the papers, Sky News and shock jocks around the country are piling on as though hordes of blood thirsty aboriginals are going to start jumping our fences!

If you truly understand the history and the stories, and put yourself in the shoes of this latest generation of First Australians, you would be filthy at the ineptitude of our historical governments and how cruelly our forefathers were treated.

Imagine if you had some white coats walk into your house and remove your kids? The Stolen Generation was still happening in the 1970s!

We are governed mostly by white middle aged men who frankly don’t make decisions without a motive. It’s all political and devoid of compassion.

The Voice is nothing more than an advisory council because politicians literally don’t understand our First Australians. There are no legislative powers associated with it.

What it will provide is the dignity of recognition in the constitution and a say in how our government make decisions on indigenous issues.

This argument that The Voice will only divide the country is utterly preposterous. The majority of politicians who make the decisions in Canberra would never have met an aboriginal let alone have any understanding of First Nations history.

We are well and truly divided already thanks very much. We are still in our infancy as an inclusive nation with so much room for growth.

Peter Dutton says that when he gets into power he will include the First Nations people in the constitution but it ends there. Maybe three cheers?

I have friends and family that I love that are voting NO and frustratingly, I don’t even know why it’s even got to a vote.

I would have expected something that is going to advance our country, empower our First Australians and therefore our authenticity as a nation would be a fate accompli. Clearly not.

The bile that Dutton and the Murdoch press have been spitting out is divisive and embarrassing. I feel saddened and angry.

When you hear the narrative of our First Nations leaders, it reeks of tiredness at having to continually justify their existence and culture.

Imagine what it must be like to never be fully accepted as an Australian and be relentlessly reminded that despite what you suggest, it will never be good enough?

That’s what it’s been like for First Nations people in this country and has been for 250 years.

This vote is simply an opportunity for positive change, not a threat to what is a very lucky country.