![aboriginal snake small](https://quadrant.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/aboriginal-snake-small-1.png)
The Voice of a New (and Smaller) Australia
The truth was that Prime Minister Jonesy had never really been interested in First Nations issues. When his advisers told him the Voice was a matter of manners, it seemed fair enough. The referendum went through, pushed by $200 million from his government. Now the Voice MPs had him over a barrel. They were demanding 10 per cent Indigenous staff for the new submarines, which was impossible. As a result, the Bill could not pass.
“Why didn’t someone explain this to me?” Jonesy asked his chief of staff. “I will be a laughing stock in Washington and London.”
“Paris and Beijing too,” the advisor added. It was his job to be honest with the PM.
“They’re supposed to be on our side,” Jonesy said.
On top of that, the Voice MPs wanted some other alarming things. Houses with air-conditioning for every First Nation person sounded reasonable in the Northern Territory, but 70 per cent of them were being built in Sydney and Melbourne. Same for late model 4WDs. Cabinet had…
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