ON the steps of Parliament House in Melbourne a crowd of over 30,000 gathered to hear speakers at the annual Invasion Day gathering. 

After the traditional welcome to Country and smoking ceremonies several speakers addressed the crowd. 

Uncle Bill Nicholson said “Why can’t they just introduce legislation to establish the Voice? 

“Why do we need a referendum to have a Voice? We have never needed it before when they passed legislation which affected Aboriginal people.” 

Victoria’s former Treaty Advancement Commissioner, Jill Gallagher, said other Indigenous figures’ opposition to the Voice was “nonsensical”. 

“How can you get treaty without an elected voice?” she said. 

“The government’s not going to talk to every single Aboriginal person on this continent about what their treaty’s going to look like. 

“They have to have a mechanism to actually progress treaties.” 

Other speakers challenged the idea of a Voice and instead proposed an actual Treaty. 

Uncle Gary Foley told those attending the Voice would “only be…