Yothu Yindi‘s powerful hit Treaty was played on repeat across the country this afternoon as Black Out host and proud Nuin man Nooky chose to use music to react to Australia’s No decision.
On Saturday, Australians went to the polls to decide on whether to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as the first custodians of the nation and to enshrine a voice to parliament and the executive in our constitution.
As of Sunday afternoon, the AEC count had less than 40% of Australians willing to accept the modest ask from First Nations people, leading to a period of soul searching for the country.
triple j’s Blak Out program opened with a powerful statement as Nooky spoke from the heart. Reflecting on his bitter disappointment at the result, he spoke of feeling that he had let his people down and that over the last 24 hours he had taken heart and strength from connecting with his family.
“October 14 was a moment in history where a dark cloud will forever cast a shadow. I feel like I let down my elders. I feel like I let down the future generations. Last night was the most overt, unconcealed manifestation of racism I have ever experienced in my whole life. Yesterday they said our pain and our suffering continues. The disadvantage and the inequality continues. But so does our love, our happiness, our strength and our pride.”
“Last night, amongst the torment, I found solace when I sat down with my eldest daughter Olivia. It’s our kids we need to be there for right now, but it’s them who hold the power. The power to heal. And the power to bring change. When I look at them, I see the hope that hasn’t died.
“In this moment, I’m broken, but I’m not defeated and regardless of yesterday’s outcome, there was always work to do. It’s just now clear just how much work there is to do. I’ve seen the word ‘defeat’ get thrown around a lot this morning. I rang my Nan Colleen back home in Nowra and I was ashamed. But Nan was still Nan. She was yarning away and laughing and she told me to keep on going. Hearing my Nan hold herself with such composure in this moment, I didn’t feel defeat. See, defeat- that’s when we stop having joy, stop having hope. That’s when we stop loving and caring for ourselves and this land of ours. That’s when we stop being strong and being proud of who we are and we all know that would never happen.
“We could never lose. We haven’t lost a thing. We all knew what the outcome was going to be. We all know the reality that we live in. It’s just now more apparent. We ain’t licking our wounds today, we’re sharpening our spears. See the colour of our skin? That’s our pride and joy and they can never change the river of our souls.
“Our people are the most caring, welcoming, loving, generous, strong and resilient people and in the darkness, we hold the light. We always have. We’re the oldest culture on earth and we have survived the white man’s world. We did not give up this land and the planting of the union jack never changed our lore at all.
“It’s that message of hope and survival that you’re going to hear for the next hour. And trust, it isn’t a mistake. We’re gonna repeat this message until it rings true. We will not sit in silence. They will hear us. We rejoice as a people and light our sacred fire in the face of their broken promises. Treaty Now.”
Listeners were left to ponder the importance of the song as it repeated for an entire hour, absorbing the gravity of where this weekend now leaves the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia.
Briggs, who went viral with his ‘far enough’ sketch across social media in the lead up to the referendum approached the result with a simple post on Sunday morning “Oh? It ain’t over mfkrs!”
Credit: https://themusic.com.au/news/