AOC supports Australia’s The Voice

At the AOC’s Annual General Meeting this morning in Sydney, President Ian Chesterman made the announcement.

“The AOC is a group that supports working toward reconciliation with our First Nations population.

“We have committed to work toward sport-based reconciliation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Back in 2015, that objective was included in our constitution.

The AOC Executive as well as the AOC Athletes’ Commission publicly declared their support for the YES campaign at the upcoming vote during their meeting yesterday.

We did not make this choice lightly since we know that some people in the Olympic movement would vote against it, and we appreciate their right to do so.

“The AOC Indigenous Advisory Committee is the Australian Olympic Committee’s Voice. Under the wise direction of their chair, Patrick Johnson, the Committee took seriously its obligation to advise us when we asked for their opinion on what would be the proper reaction from us.

“I am happy to report that the AOC Executive and Athletes’ Commission decided to support constitutional recognition of the First Nations peoples as well as The Voice based on the recommendations of our own Indigenous Advisory Committee.

“We think that a YES vote keeps this country moving forward on the crucial path of reconciliation. Through its Reconciliation Action Plans (RAP), the AOC is firmly committed to going down that road.

“As we move closer to Paris 2024, we want to see more of our 60 known Indigenous Olympians. Brisbane 2032 and LA 2028. In Tokyo 2020, a record 16 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander athletes competed, Mr Chesterman said.

The chair of the AOC Athletes Commission, Cate Campbell, stated that the Commission’s members were aware of the variety of viewpoints in the Australian population.

Sports can improve people’s lives, and as a group, we believe that by expressing our opinions as the Athletes’ Commission, we could help. The determination to first acknowledge our First Nations’ people and then the desire for doable steps to better the lives of Indigenous Australians by enshrining the Voice in the national constitution were significant factors in our deliberations. In supporting the YES argument, we also realize that this is the Commission’s point of view and that there will likely be other points of view among athletes, Ms Campbell added.

The Indigenous Advisory Committee has debated the issue for many months, according to AOC IAC Chair Patrick Johnson, who has kept an open mind to all points of view.

In the end, support for the YES position was the overwhelming opinion among our members, and essential to note the group as a whole was delighted to move on with the recommendation we have given to the AOC Executive and Athletes’ Commission.

“As part of our deliberation, we extensively contacted supporters of both campaigns. We place a high value on respecting other people’s viewpoints. Before we could express our opinion to the Executive and the Athletes’ Commission, we urgently wanted to ensure everyone understood the issues thoroughly, Mr. Johnson stated.