guardian.co.uk,
Alison Rourke, Friday 20 January 2012
 |
| Australia's Aborigines can be discriminated against under sections 25 and 51 of the constitution. Photograph: Gary Calton |
Australia
is poised to make historic changes to its constitution, recognising Aborigines
as the country's original inhabitants and removing the last clauses of
state-sanctioned racial discrimination.
The amendments
could be put to the Australian people in a referendum before the next general
election in 2013, after the prime minister, Julia Gillard, endorsed the
unanimous findings of a panel of 19 experts.
Section 25
of the constitution recognises that states can disqualify people, such as
Aborigines, from voting. Section 51 says federal parliament can make laws based
upon a person's race. Both were put in the constitution in 1901 to prevent
certain races from living in areas reserved for white people or from taking up
certain occupations.
The prime
minister, Julia Gillard, welcomed the report. "We are big enough and it is
the right time to say yes to an understanding of our past, to say yes to
constitutional change, and to say yes to a future more united and more
reconciled than we have ever been before," she said.
The panel's
report followed public consultation with more than 4,500 people and more than
250 public meetings. The panel's co-chair, Aboriginal elder Professor Patrick
Dodson, urged bipartisan support for the proposals.
"This
is a time when truth and respect for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
peoples needs to be achieved through the recognition in our constitution,"
he said. "Strong leadership and our national interest are critical for our
nation to go forward."
When
Australia became a federation in 1901 there were only two references to
Aborigines in the constitution: one denied federal parliament the power to make
laws with respect to Aboriginal people in any state, while another excluded
what it termed "Aboriginal natives" from the census. Both of those
sections were scrapped in a 1967 referendum (by a majority of 90%), leaving a
constitution that made no mention whatsoever of indigenous people.
Referendums
in Australia have historically been hard to pass. Only eight out of 44 have
succeeded since 1906, partly because any alteration to the constitution must be
approved by a "double majority". This demands that, as well as a
majority yes vote being required nationally, a majority must also be reached in
four of the six states.
The
opposition leader, Tony Abbott, has said he will study the document. "We
have some reservations about anything that might turn out to be a one-clause
bill of rights but we accept that millions of Australians' hopes and dreams are
resting on constitutional recognition of indigenous people," he said.
The report
also called for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages to be
recognised as the country's first languages. It calls for continuing respect
for these cultures, languages and heritage.
The
government aims to hold the referendum at or before a general election, due in
2013.
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I encourage people to do their own research on Aboriginal Australians, in Australia the public are very disconected to Aboriginal people and culture, we dont even teach Australian history at any level of the education system here, but Australians have strong opinions about Aboriginal people and culture even though most have never meet an Aborignal person, its directly linked to their past and will do and say anything to justify their own exsistence in a foreign country, Australia is very racist and negative and hasnt really moved past their colonial start, we also have whats called the history wars, where one tells the story of the past deemed "black arm band" ( really its an honest account of things) and the "white blind fold" version where history is played down or minimalised to comfort the collective guilt of white Australia, so beware of who's writen the history piece and steer clear of keith windschuttle and the quadrant bunch, John pilger is a good start, remember who has something to hide (benefit from) and who doesnt stand to gain from it when considering a "version" of history, talk to Aboriginals about it (unlike aussies) as most can give a first hand account, not a theory but a real account
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