On the 14th October 2023, Australia voted no in the referendum for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. It was a day of overwhelming disappointment for many Australians. Especially so for the thousands of people who had volunteered their time and energy campaigning for the “yes” vote for months or years previously.
Even now, a year later, people are looking for a way to move forward from this.
One of the leading voices in the yes campaign and one of the most respected Indigenous advocates in the country today is Kaurareg Aboriginal and Kalkalgal Torres Strait islander man, Thomas Mayo, who believes he can help answer that.
After writing the Voice to Parliament Handbook with journalist Kerry O’Brien in the lead-up to the referendum, Mayo has found that people are again looking to him for guidance. He has just published a new book called Always Was, Always Will be: The Campaign for Justice and Recognition Continues, offering a formula to get to a place of justice and recognition for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Mayo was a signatory to the Uluru Statement from the Heart in May 2017 after helping develop it. He has been a leading campaigner for its proposals for a Voice to Parliament and a Makarrata Commission. But even before then, he’s had more than 20 years’ experience in advocacy and leadership.
Always Was, Always Will be: The campaign for justice and recognition continues is out this month.
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