WHEN respected Gunditjmara Elder and community worker, Claudette Lovett and daughter Staycee Charles, a Wembe Wembe/Barapa Barapa woman, arrived to vote at the Senior Citizens Centre in Hamilton Victoria in the recent referendum, they were overjoyed. 

Not only had they got the only parking spot in front of the polling booth but there wasn’t a long line of people waiting to vote. They thought it would be an easy and pleasurable experience, it was 10am and they had an event to attend at 10.30am. 

Little did they suspect that there would be issues with their clothing choice. 

Auntie Claudette told the Koori Mail: “As we were waiting in the line we were approached by an AEC (Australian Electoral Commission) worker, an individual I have known personally for many years, at which point she told me I would have to remove my Yes shirt before entering or I would not be able to vote. 

My daughter Stacey responded by saying, ‘We don’t have anything on underneath’, at which point the AEC worker said, ‘Well, you’re a rude little girl’. 

Firstly, calling my daughter a rude little girl was very disrespectful and secondly I don’t know any woman who…