'Those families couldâve had a better life if we had a Voice': Thomas Mayo on why the time to change Australian history is now
Ahead of the referendum this Saturday, the proud Kaurareg Aboriginal and Kalkalgal Erubamle Torres Strait Islander man calls on the Australian public to educate themselves, and vote for a more positive future.

“THERE’S A PATTERN throughout history you cannot ignore. We have established Voices since the 1920s all the way through to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission [in 1990]. But every time Indigenous people have set up a Voice to be able to come togetherâto have our debates and discussions in a proper and informed way, to reach a consensus and then go out there with coherency, with strength and unity to be able to achieve changeâa government has come along and taken it away.â

Kaurareg man Thomas Mayo is standing before a crowd of people inside Sydneyâs Cafe Fredaâs, recalling a handful of historical precedents in which various Australian governments took it upon themselves to make decisions on behalf of Indigenous people. Itâs four days until the October 14 referendum is due to take place, and the gravity of his words is not lost on anyone in the room. Today, the irreparable damage done by John Howardâs Northern Territory Intervention in 2007, and Tony Abbottâs decision to cut hundreds of millions of dollars from frontline community services in 2016, is abundantly clear. This Saturday, the Australian public have the opportunity to give First Nations people a Voice; the right to be consulted on policies that affect their communities so that past mistakes are not repeated.
âWhat Howard did [in 2007] was he announced to the entire country that issues in those communities were somehow and Aboriginal problem. Never mind the trauma from colonisation; never mind the failed policies and harmful laws; never mind the poverty and all of the things that are experienced in those communities,â continued Mayo, adding that for Indigenous men around the country, the flow-on effect of the intervention was that âpeople looked at us with suspicious eyesâ. âIt was [as] if our children needed protection from us because of our culture and our heritage,â he recalls.

Since the Uluru Statement from the Heart was announced in 2017, Mayo has dedicated his life to educating the Australian public on the Voice, and why enshrining it in the constitution means a more positive future for all Australians. Inside Cafe Fredaâs, at the âYes 23â event hosted by Aussie fashion brands Double Rainbouu, House of Darwin and Jungles Jungles, and Darwin’s Laundry Gallery, the activist expressed his optimismâthat by placing the decision in the hands of the diverse Australian public, not a small pool of politicians, the result this Saturday will be âYesâ.

âWhat we came to understand is that with the Uluru Statement, we needed to write it to the Australian peopleânot to a king or a queen or a parliament. If weâre going to call for a Voice, weâre not going to rely on the government to do it. Weâre going to invite the Australian people to establish it through a referendum, in our constitution, so that it can last through the political cycles, so it can get momentum towards closing the gap,â he finished.
âThat is how weâre going to see change.â

Across Australia, 7,000 polling places will be open tomorrow (Saturday October 14) from 8am to 6pm local time. Voting is compulsory. This is our chance to make history. Find your nearest polling booth here.
Related:
Your last minute guide to the Voice referendum
‘Out of the mud of Parliament and into the humanity’: Adam Briggs on championing the Yes Vote