The voice? Your choice. Choose wisely!, page-12

Some may not like this truth.

Thecomments below are taken from a recent Daily Mail article.

A formerindigenous politician who received a prestigious award from BarackObama has described Aboriginal' welcome to country' ceremonies as 'bullshit'.

Quotefrom former indigenous NT minister Bess Price (mother of Jacinta Price). "All the 'Welcome to Country', all the 'Smoking Ceremonies' and all themade up bullshit rituals about 'pay our respects to elders past and present' isjust one big lie."

The 'welcome to country' wasadopted into Australia's parliamentary protocols in 2008, after the then primeminister Kevin Rudd delivered his apology to the stolen generation.

However, two years afterthat decision Aboriginal entertainer Ernie Dingo claimed that he invented theconcept in 1976 when Pacific Island dancers demanded they receive a traditionalwelcome.

TheAboriginals have supposedly been here for at least30,000 years (some say more like 60,000 years). That's about 29,750 yearsbefore the British arrived.

The fact is, as uncomfortable and as unfashionable as it is,aboriginal Australia had not produced anything resembling a Shakespeare,nothing much in the way of technology, never discovered the wheel and nophilosophy to speak of, in the 30,000 years available to it. The Englishbrought the rule of law, the Westminster system, the notion of progress and allthe benefits of the science, technology and ingenuity of the modern Europeantradition.

On 26January 1788 when the First Fleet ships unloaded their 1200 convicts, RoyalMarine guards and officials, not a shot was fired. As they looked aroundwhat's now Circular Quay, they saw nothing other than bush. Not a singlebuilding, planted field, domesticated plant or animal ̶ nothing atall. It was the same across the continent.

It was'terra nullius' ̶ a vacant land.

There wasno indigenous Army to defeat in battle, no Aboriginal flag to lower. There was nothing to claim as the spoils ofvictory.

There wasjust wild bush. The few Aborigines who came out to have a look at these strange people werecompletely illiterate and innumerate and those on the south side ofthe harbor spoke a language completely unintelligible to those on the north side of the harbor and they'd beenconstantly at war with each other for as long as anyone can remember.

To thisday Australian Aboriginal languages consist of around 290-363 dialects belonging to an estimated 28 languagefamilies and isolates, spoken by Aboriginal Australians of mainland Australia and afew nearby islands.

There wasno 'invasion'.

Since thearrival of the English, only about 250 years ago, Australia has prospered and developedinto a modern first world country, along with all other Western democracies.

Yet forat least 30,000 years (prior to the arrival of the British) the Aboriginals seemed tohave not progressed one step.

To putthis into perspective, the Egyptian empire came and went between around 1570 BCand 1070 BC.

Aboriginalshad inhabited our great land for at least 27,000 years prior to the Egyptianempire.

The Greekempire was at its peak in the period 500 BC to 300 BC and the Roman empire wasat its peak around 117 BC.

Each ofthose empires were highly advanced and contributed enormously to theadvancement of the modern world.

Ittherefore beats me why the Aboriginals are now so revered.

55 years ago, under the Holt Liberal government, that 90.77 percent of Australians voted to remove race from the constitution, putting'indigenous' Australian people on the same legal footing as all otherAustralians and allowing them to be counted in the Australian population.

It was a momentous shift towards equality.

Half a decade later, the Albanese Labor government wants toinsert 'race' back into the constitution!

To enshrine a special place in the constitution based purely onracial grounds is racism pure and simple. Length of time on the continentwhether it be 40,000 years, 250 years or 10 years shouldn't be the determinantfor any special consideration to any population cohort in the constitution.

JUST ALITTLE SOMETHING TO CONTEMPLATE BEFORE SIGNING UP TO 'THE VOICE' – TAKECARE – WE ALREADY HAVE A PARLIAMENT THAT REPRESENTS 'ALL' AUSTRALIANS!