The Voice has moved columnist HUGH SELBY to write in rhyme. Here he channels Lewis Carroll, but with no apologies to Alice. 

Let us be inclusive 

“You are old, wrinkly Selby,” some young-uns said,

“And your hair has become very white;

And yet you incessantly stand on your head –

Do you think, at your age, it is right?”

“In my youth,” said old Selby, trying to jest,

“I feared it might injure the brain;

But, now that I’m sure I am long past my best,

Why, I do it again and again.”

“A change of position brings new points of view,

And insights that I really must share;

How else can I focus upon anything new,

When many pollies seem not to care?”

There’s a voice in the air that will not shut up,

It’s demanding a much bigger share;

It shouts down my queries, and even my ‘buts’,

It says that it’s me that’s not fair.

Democracy lives by our having a voice,

But quite equal those voices must be;

To give four per cent an additional choice,

Is to cast aside equality.

Too many among us live lives that are tough,

Each day an assault on their pride;

But giving voice to a few is hardly enough,

To solve the equality divide.

Let First Nations people excel in all fields,

May their cultures and talents shine bright;

But not by a way that wills all others yield,

To a race based pursuit of the light.

Our destinies are wrought on the forge of choice,

Yet shaped by the world that’s around us;

Respecting that range will create a clear voice,

One deserving a broad ranging trust.

Housing, schooling, health, still all underfunded,

Many children’s futures left to chance;

AUKUS and light rail evidence the plunder;

As pollies lead us a merry dance.

They tell us their Voice is a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ choice,

But it’s rather more complex than that;

The search is for an inclusive, public voice,

Not some historical tit for tat.

All the wrongs that were done cannot be denied,

Our past so full of shame and sorrow;

But the future we share can have fewer lies,

If, as equals, we plan tomorrow.