Cr Steve Christou said it was difficult to believe that while there were residents struggling to pay the mortgage, rent, bills and put food on the table to feed, some councils have been “wasting residents money on supporting the Voice campaign”.
A spokesperson for Cumberland Council said while it heard and supported the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ calls for the establishment of a First Nations Voice enshrined in the constitution, it had not spent any funds on the campaign but had provided to the community through events, community centres and libraries, the freely available information contained on the official voice.gov.au website.
Cr Christou said it was unbelievable that councils would be spending money on the campaign, while “cost of living measures are soaring, rising interest rates are crippling households, the rental housing shortages amounting to unaffordable rent prices, electricity prices are through the roof resulting in people shivering through winter, and basic grocery prices being unaffordable for the average family”.
“And from the considerable feedback, residents are not at all impressed,” he said.
