Three months ago, when Australian Prime Minister John Howard shut down the country’s only elected government agency representing indigenous people, his reasoning was based in the power of "mainstreaming."
But Howard’s contention that dissolving the Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander Commission (ATSIC) and integrating its work into other governmental agencies would improve services did not sit well with many indigenous leaders, who remain worried that their representation will get lost in the shuffle.
Recently, a group of activists led by Aboriginal musician and filmmaker Richard Frankland have banned together to try to make sure that doesn’t happen. In May, they announced the formation of a pro-indigenous political party called Your Voice, which hopes to run indigenous candidates in marginal Parliament seats in elections tilted for this October.
"I’m very concerned over the direction that Australia is heading under this government," said Frankland, a member of the Gunditjmara peoples of western Victoria, in a phone interview from his native province. "I’m concerned that Australia has gone backwards."
Your Voice currently has over 500 registered members, and has drafted a constitution. Of the 40 seats opening up in the 76-member Senate this fall, the party has targeted seven seats in Victoria. As soon as they complete the registration process, Frankland said Your Voice will be ready to campaign.
A party with narrow focus, Frankland said it will concentrate on indigenous health issues, land issues, and "equality and justice before the country." Open to both indigenous and non-indigenous people, Frankland hopes his party will appeal to anyone who is worried that "Australia is based on a mono-culture, and doesn’t encompass the 500 indigenous tribes and other cultures that are here."
Your Voice will not be the only "single-issue" party in Australia: others include the Austrailian Shooters Party (ASP), Common Cause – No Aircraft Noise, Help End Marijuana Prohibition (HEMP), and the Nuclear Disarmament Party.
But what makes Frankland’s party stand out is that it represents a shift in political strategy for Australia’s indigenous peoples, in the wake of the abolition of ATSIC.
New Zealand has seen a similar development, with the recent formation of the Maori Party, which also picked up steam in May as 1,000 people turned out to support its formation in Ngaruawahia, according to press reports. The party’s main issue is over ownership of seabeds and foreshore land on the New Zealand coast.
Though Frankland said that the registration of Your Voice is taking time, he said that even if the party has not completed the process in time for the elections, they will run the same candidates in the same marginal seats as independents.
Does Your Voice have a chance of winning? Frankland hopes so.
"Sure, it’s David and Goliath, but at the end of the day [we] can win," he said. If not, Frankland added, "I think we’ll have enough impact to peak the social conscience."
