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Australia has voted 'No' to a Voice to Parliament (The Voice was a proposed special representative body to give Indigenous Australia's more of a say in how Australia is run).
news.com.au ^ | 14th October 2023

Posted on 10/14/2023 1:32:00 AM PDT by naturalman1975

The Voice to Parliament has been defeated.

South Australia has been called for No.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.au ...


TOPICS: Australia/New Zealand; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS:
Rolling coverage, so it's not easy to share, but about 5 minutes ago, the vote was called as 'No' for the state of South Australia, and as it had already been called for the states of Tasmania and New South Wales, the 'Yes' case can not possibly succeed.

Australia's constitution can only be amended by Referendum and such referendums require a majority over the whole country and majorities in a majority of states. With six states, that means four states have to vote yes. Three have been called as no, so there are only three left. So a Yes vote is impossible.

It is likely it is going to be defeated in every single state.

This is a victory for those Australians who do not want a country where one race officially has more rights than others.

There are still genuine problems in some isolated indigenous communities. But this would have done nothing to fix that.

1 posted on 10/14/2023 1:32:00 AM PDT by naturalman1975
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To: naturalman1975

I think Canada’s solution is the best. On native land, they have the right to manage their reservations as a municipality. Ensure local needs are met.


2 posted on 10/14/2023 1:44:58 AM PDT by Jonty30 (It never rains in sunny Alberta. It always rains in rainy Alberta.)
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To: Jonty30

No I think the best solution is to Integrate them into the country. No special land for anyone. They lost.


3 posted on 10/14/2023 1:47:36 AM PDT by Chickensoup (Genocide is here. Leftist extremists are spehe used tarheading the Genocide against conservatives. )
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To: Chickensoup; Jonty30

I agree with you, Soup. Never heard of this until several hours ago. There’s no upside to approving any leftist plan that devises special groupings and gives special privileges. They cannot be trusted to restrain themselves.

Ohh… gotta go… I live in CA and just got an “ebony alert!”


4 posted on 10/14/2023 2:08:22 AM PDT by j.havenfarm (22 years on Free Republic, 12/10/22! more then 6500 replies and still not shutting up!)
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To: Jonty30; naturalman1975

The best part about reserves in Canada is that in many places they are integrated within regular communities... The good news is, you can buy cigs and weed for real cheap prices... We’re talking $50 and less for ounces of high test weed, and cigarettes for $25 a carton...

They sell the tax free stuff to everybody and the government can’t do a thing about it... Otherwise, they call them out for racism... They’re making a sh*t load of money and everybody benefits.

At government sanctioned pot shops they sell pot for $10 a gram and when you buy cigarettes with taxes they are priced at $140 and more per carton... So we’re talking massive savings.

I feel bad for those communities in Canada that don’t have a reservation nearby.


5 posted on 10/14/2023 2:16:30 AM PDT by jerod (Nazi's were essentially Socialist in Hugo Boss uniforms... Get over it!)
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To: jerod

I wasn’t aware that I could buy goods on the res.


6 posted on 10/14/2023 2:17:52 AM PDT by Jonty30 (It never rains in sunny Alberta. It always rains in rainy Alberta.)
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To: Jonty30

Where I live they have about 20 different pot shops and they sell cigarettes at the same shops... It’s one stop shopping for real cheap prices. It’s freaking awesome!

The interesting part... They compete with each other and have senior days and specials... So stuff that they regularly sell for $50 per ounce, goes for $25 on Fridays, etc. And I’d rather give them the money than give it to the government to waste on windmills and solar panels.


7 posted on 10/14/2023 2:25:19 AM PDT by jerod (Nazi's were essentially Socialist in Hugo Boss uniforms... Get over it!)
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To: jerod

The Paul Band, by Wabuman, is building a bunch of shops, including franchises like KFC. I don’t go out there much, but it’s an incentive to drop in the next time I do.


8 posted on 10/14/2023 2:31:37 AM PDT by Jonty30 (It never rains in sunny Alberta. It always rains in rainy Alberta.)
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To: Jonty30

The legality is sketchy... But the bottom line is, the police and prosecutors wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot pole... What shop do you bust? And you can’t bust them all... That would take up too much time, resources, etc... And you know that if you did try to shut them down, that there would be a massive outcry of racism... So the hands of authorities are essentially tied.

I feel bad for the mom and pop stores that relied on cig sales to sell other stuff in their stores... Nobody buys cigs from them anymore... But the fact is, myself being a smoker, I save $5,000 per year going to the res... So I won’t be buying anywhere else anytime soon.


9 posted on 10/14/2023 2:41:19 AM PDT by jerod (Nazi's were essentially Socialist in Hugo Boss uniforms... Get over it!)
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To: jerod

You’re very fortunate. I don’t have any bands within easy access that I could take advantage of.


10 posted on 10/14/2023 2:43:00 AM PDT by Jonty30 (It never rains in sunny Alberta. It always rains in rainy Alberta.)
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To: Jonty30

“You’re very fortunate. I don’t have any bands within easy access that I could take advantage of.”

You have no idea how ironic that statement truly is. Pretty much sums up the reality of new world history.


11 posted on 10/14/2023 4:42:05 AM PDT by Openurmind (The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world it leaves to its children. ~ D. Bonhoeffer)
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To: naturalman1975
I've been following this for months because I lived in Australia from 1986 to 2010. It looks like a resounding 60% against the referendum.

But the Left is in power in Oz. How can this be? Because they have a tortured version of Ranked Choice Voting. The result is a "right-wing" coalition that is akin to RINOs.

12 posted on 10/14/2023 5:46:29 AM PDT by HandBasketHell
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To: naturalman1975

Does the Northern Territory not count as a state? Do their residents vote in a referendum like this?


13 posted on 10/14/2023 6:48:55 AM PDT by Gay State Conservative (Two Words: Banana Republic)
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To: jerod
Recently we went to Niagara Falls (Canadian side) and soon after crossing over the bridge we saw a gas station with prices that were *much* cheaper than anywhere else around Buffalo (we're from Massachusetts). Turns out it's owned by an Indian tribe. I assume that means that they don't have to charge New York State tax like ordinary stations do...and maybe not even Federal tax.
14 posted on 10/14/2023 6:57:15 AM PDT by Gay State Conservative (Two Words: Banana Republic)
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To: naturalman1975

Thanks for the update!
A State funded BLM only ends one way.
The destruction of Aus.
Love your Country!


15 posted on 10/14/2023 8:27:31 AM PDT by Zathras
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To: Gay State Conservative
Does the Northern Territory not count as a state? Do their residents vote in a referendum like this?

Both the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory are not states - they are, as their name suggests, 'Territories' under Australian law. They are the two largest Territories and because of this they have been given a similar - although not identical - level of self-government to the states, but their status still differs in a number of ways.

This is more or less due to their low populations compared to the states - although Tasmania isn't much bigger really in population terms (if we were Federating today rather than in 1901, Tasmania would likely be a Territory).

One of the ways that they differ from a state is how they figure in Referendums. Yes, they do get to vote but...

OK - let me explain briefly how we count results in Referendums. An Referendum is the only way to amend Australia's constitution - that's written into the constitution.

And for a Referendum to pass, it needs to achieve what is referred to as a Double Majority.

It needs to achieve a majority across the entire country; and it also needs to achieve a majority in a majority of states. As we have six states, that means it has to pass in four of the six states.

The reason behind this is when the constitution was written (and indeed even today) the two states of New South Wales and Victoria were much more populous than the other four states, and the smaller states wanted a mechanism that prevented NSW and Victoria simply being able to dominate a Referendum. So they insisted on a mechanism that would mean a Referendum couldn't pass just because NSW and Victoria wanted it.

Anyway, to answer your question - yes, the Northern Territory (and the ACT) gets to vote, but their votes are only counted in the national level number - towards the first of the two parts of the Double Majority. They are not part of the 'must be passed by at least four states' second of the two parts of the Double Majority. The same is true of voters in the smaller territories (there are a few of those which aren't even large enough for the semi-state self-government the NT and ACT have.

Of the 45 referendum questions put to the Australian people only 8 have passed. Another 9 have achieved the National Majority, but have failed because they didn't get a majority in four states. We've never had a referendum where 4 states voted yes, but a national majority didn't, but we have had a few where 3 states voted yes, and there was a national majority as well - most notably in 1977 where a referendum that would have ensured House and Senate elections would occur simultaneously achieved 62% support across the country, but only three states approved the change. NSW and Victoria voted yes, accompanied by South Australia, Queensland, Tasmania, and Western Australia rejected the idea. An example of the smaller states (who rely more on the Senate with its 'equal number of Senators for every state' to be heard) resisting an idea being forced on them by the two largest states (although South Australia was willing to go along with it as well for some reason I'd have to research to understand).

I should mention the Northern Territory has had a chance to become a state - it had its own Referendum on the idea in 1998. It rejected the idea.

16 posted on 10/14/2023 1:16:04 PM PDT by naturalman1975 ("America was under attack. Australia was immediately there to help." - John Winston Howard)
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To: naturalman1975

The average Aboriginal IQ is 62. Their counsel should never be sought.


17 posted on 10/14/2023 1:21:42 PM PDT by Mr. Blond
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