Tanya Hosch has revealed she left hospital just two weeks after a leg amputation to advocate in favour of the Voice to Parliament at Wednesday’s launch of the referendum campaign.
“A little over two weeks ago, I had my lower right leg amputated,” said Hosch.
“Having left hospital only yesterday, I am standing here on one leg today.”
Hosch has been a strong proponent of constitutional recognition for a decade.
The Torres Strait Islander woman was previously the joint campaign manager for ‘Recognise’ and is currently a Director of Australians for Constitution Recognition.
In her speech, Hosch said it was “too easy to speak of numbers” when grasping the disproportionate disadvantage faced by First Nations people and shared her personal story to highlight the positive change she believes a Voice to Parliament can achieve.
“I am not without privilege and access to services but still the service design let me down,” said Hosch.
“I know that if we already had a permanent Voice in place, there would be people around that table that understand my story, my experience and what could make things better and different for me and for people like me.”
A staunch Yes activist
Hosch has a storied career in policy and social activism beginning in the 1990s.
In 2013 she became the face of the Recognise campaign and has been the Executive General Manager Inclusion & Social Policy at the AFL since 2016.
Hosch likened the impending vote to the last successful referendum in 1967 and called on “this generation to complete the task.”
“History is calling us, it is urging us to finish the work of 1967, when more than 90 per cent of Australians voted yes,” said Hosch.
"We answered that call unequivocally and emphatically, we were not daunted by the fear of failure.”
In calling on the country to make a change, she criticised the ‘No’ campaign.
She also acknowledged the coming and going of other Indigenous advisory boards that have been defunded and disbanded by the changing hands of government.
“We have been left without a durable or genuine say in how the matters that effect us are to be managed,” said Hosch.
"During the same time, if we continue to do things the same way as we always have, we will get the same results. This is all the no case offers - leave things as they are and that is just not acceptable.”
A call to action for voters
For Hosch, the issue of an Indigenous Voice to Parliament is simple.
She encouraged the audience to imagine the future of the country’s national identity if the pendulum swings in favour of the Voice being enshrined in the constitution.
“A guaranteed Voice on the things that create inequality and keep people back, a guaranteed voice to instil hope and realise our national identity,” she said.
“On the morning after this vote, we will know something new about ourselves and each other.
“It could be an either-or, but if we vote yes, we will have seized the moment of profound national unity.
“We will ensure the First Australians have a voice when laws are made about us and our generation of Australians will have delivered a moment of hope and a better future for us all.”
The staunch ‘Yes’ advocate closed out her emotional speech with a call to arms to “every Australian of good heart”.
“We cannot achieve a resounding yes without you,” said Hosch.
“It is the fair thing to do, it's the just thing to do and it is the right thing to do. Let's honour the 1967 referendum result, let's again get together and get this done.”
