ACT Independent Senator David Pocock is joining Independent Member for Calare Andrew Gee MP alongside four other panellists for a community conversation in Orange this week about the upcoming Voice referendum.
They will be joined by Jamie Newman (CEO of Orange Aboriginal Medical Service), Alisha Agland (Uluru Youth Dialogue Ambassador), Kate Hook (Community Advocate) and Orange Deputy Mayor Gerald Power.
The information evening will run from 7.30pm to 9pm upstairs in the Hotel Canobolas on Wednesday 23 August 2023. It is being organised by the Orange Region Voice Working Group, a collective of Indigenous and non-Indigenous representatives from the Orange community who are committed to educating the community about the upcoming referendum.
Member for Calare, Andrew Gee, said the event will be a great opportunity for residents in the Orange region to learn more about the Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
“This info session will be a great chance for locals to find out more about the upcoming referendum at their local watering hole,” said Mr Gee.
“With voting day soon to be announced, now is a great time to have a chat about what it all means, and get any questions you have on the Voice answered.
“There are some confusing claims going around, so if you’d like to have an informative chat about the Voice and how it can help get better outcomes for Indigenous Australians, come along to the pub this Wednesday night. And given David’s a former Wallabies captain, you could even get a tip or two on how to improve your cut-out pass!
“If you don’t know too much about it and want to feel confident in your choice on referendum day, grab a bevvie, order some pub grub, and pull up a chair.
Senator Pocock, who is stopping in Orange on the way to visit the Liverpool Plains and then Darling Downs, said it was terrific to have the opportunity to answer questions from the community on this momentous referendum.
“Later this year we will have the opportunity to respond to the request from Australia’s First Peoples for recognition in our Constitution and a Voice to Parliament,” Senator Pocock said.
“We are being invited to take up the generous offer in the Uluru Statement from the Heart to walk beside First Nations people.
“Constitutional recognition and enshrining a Voice to Parliament is both a symbolic and deeply practical way to begin to address entrenched disadvantage in First Nations communities.
“It’s so important that people right around Australia have the opportunity to ask questions and get factual information about the referendum. I’m really looking forward to an informative discussion and thank the Orange Region Voice Working Group for the invitation.”
Attendance is free of charge and tickets can be reserved at :
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/voice-to-parliament-qa-session-tickets-695118637557