Australia is preparing for a referendum on October 14 where all Australians will be asked to vote 'yes' or 'no' on this question:
“A Proposed Law: to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. Do you approve this proposed alteration?”
For the past 2 to 3 months, the campaigning for the Yes and No positions votes has been intensifying across Australia. A significant proportion of the campaigning, and messaging for the No position is based on long-standing fears of the white dominant culture and a significant amount of disinformation.
Andrew has been involved in the campaigning for Yes, through Kate Chaney’s office. Kate is Pene and Andrew’s the local independent member in the Australian Parliament. Four weeks ago, Andrew provided training to volunteers who are campaigning for Yes who are seeking to influence their friends and family and also door-knocking, leading kitchen table conversations and the like. Many volunteers have described being caught up in dispiriting content conversations that become a dispute.
This video is a role-play demonstration by Andrew with one of the volunteers, demonstrating a method for talking to another person who are opposed to the Voice or have ’soft no’ concerns about it. The conversation, demonstrated here although focused on constitutional recognition for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples utilises the exact skill sets that Andrew learned from Susie Essex in working with situations of disputed child abuse.
The handout that was prepared for the volunteers, providing a detailed format for conversations with people who hold a different view is also attached.
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