University leadership specialist Michelle Evans speaks on Voice

Associate Professor Michelle Evans spoke on Sunday July 2, 2023 to parishioners at Albury's St Matthew's Anglican Church on the Indigenous Voice referendum being staged later in 2023.

"The only way that we can transform a society, our society, that has structural inequalities is to be embodied for justice and its structures and to call for society to structure into a just and fair alignment," Dr Evans said.

"The continuing injustice of our constitution strips the dignity from us all and our respect for each other."

Dr Evans said a successful yes vote would result in a ninth chapter in the constitution with a focus on the Voice which would provide independent advice to the parliament and government.

"(It) can't be taken away like so many successive advisory mechanisms have," she said.

"The Voice will be chosen by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people on the wishes of their communities, the Voice will be representative of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, it will be gender balanced and include young people."

The speech by Albury-based Dr Evans, who works for the University of Melbourne, came at the start of NAIDOC Week which this year has the theme 'For Our Elders'.

"Our elders are the ones that fought tooth and nail to keep us alive in the Frontier Wars," she said.

"Our elders kept us fed and safe when they rounded us up and moved us to reserves and missions off our country."

Dr Evans was invited by St Matthew's priest Father Peter Macleod-Miller to address the congregation.

He has declared he would vote against the Voice, but at the conclusion of Dr Evans' speech he said it was important the issue was discussed in a "compassionate, peaceful and civilised sort of way".

Father Macleod-Miller noted a Riverina synod motion "encourages the parishioners of the diocese to continue to prayerfully reflect in the lead up to the national referendum".

The Riverina diocese does not include Albury, which is part of the Wangaratta diocese.

The latter passed a motion at a synod in June 2023 that "encourages support" for the constitutional change.

To read more stories, download The Border Mail news app in the Apple Store or Google Play.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: