Nyunggai Warren Mundine, ‘Only part of their story’ The Journey of Indigenous Australians from Menzies to the Voice

Australians will soon vote on whether to constitutionally enshrine an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, but do we even accurately recall when Indigenous Australians received the vote? Many incorrectly assume this was a product of the 1967 referendum, but Nyunggai Warren Mundine points out that as a New South Welshman his grandfather was on the electoral roll in 1913. Learn more about the long, often tragic and turbulent road that led us here. Hear the personal story of one of the faces of the ‘no’ campaign. And discover what has led him to believe in a different ‘next step’ in the journey of Indigenous Australians.

Want to learn more? Read our On This Day Post on the 1962 Commonwealth Electoral Act.

Want to hear more? Listen to Associate Professor William Sanders discuss the reforms of Menzies’s Minister for Territories Paul Hasluck.

Bonus Fact: While Indigenous Australians were not directly robbed of the vote in NSW (which they were in QLD & WA), such a proposal was raised during a debate over the 1891 Representation of the People Bill. It was defeated on the back of a heartfelt speech by future Liberal Premier Joseph Carruthers, who had grown up around Indigenous people in rural NSW, and who argued:

‘I have a better opportunity than most members of the house of seeing the state in which the Aborigines are, and the state to which they can be brought [Carruthers had been Minister for Education in the recently defeated Parkes Government]. We have established schools for the Aboriginal children, and we have learnt by the experience of these schools that the Aborigines are not devoid of perception to any greater extent than the white population of the colony … It is not of their own choice that blackfellows are in a country where they are liable to be denied the privileges enjoyed by other people. Considering the manner in which the Aborigines of the colony were treated in days gone by, it would have been a good thing if they had not only had a vote, but if one of their number had been here to voice their sufferings and their wrongs. I am sure the Committee will not deprive the Aborigines of the vote which they have had in the past. Nothing has been shown to indicate that the vote has been abused in any way, and it is consonance with the principle of one man one vote to allow these persons to possess the privilege which they have enjoyed in the past.’

Mr Nyunggai Warren Mundine AO is a member of the Bundjalung Indigenous Nation of Australia and a descendant of the Gumbaynggirr and Yuin Indigenous Nations of Australia. He is from Grafton, NSW. Mr Mundine is a highly respected and influential businessman, political strategist and advocate for empowering the Indigenous people of Australia to build businesses and sustainable economies. His life and career have been shaped by a personal commitment to community and economic development. He has more than 40 years’ experience working in the public, private and community sectors. He has advised successive Australian governments since 2004 and his appointment as Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Indigenous Advisory Council from 2013 to 2017 follows a long career in the public, business, policy, arts and community sectors. He is currently Chairman and Managing Director of Nyungga Black Group, Chairman of the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation and a Governor for the Committee for the Economic Development of Australia, Chairman of Fuse Minerals and Aura Energy and was previously Chairman of Real Futures, RISE Ventures, NAISDA College, NAISDA Foundation and the Australian Indigenous Chamber of Commerce, among others.