The 27th May is the anniversary of the 1967
Referendum, which changed Australia’s Constitution so Indigenous people would
be counted in the census. Now, many Australians say it’s time for another
referendum. We find out about the campaign to give First Australians a voice in
parliament and recognition in the Constitution.minus
Vote
yes and give them rights and freedoms just like me and you, vote yes for Aboriginies.
FAITH
BANDLER, CAMPAIGN DIRECTOR: The referendum is on Saturday, and it is important
that we should have the maximum vote because the eyes of the world are on
Australia.
On
the 27th of May 1967 Australians went to the polls, but it wasn't for an
election. They were voting on whether or not
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people would be counted as citizens of
their own country. You see back then Indigenous people didn't have the same
rights as other Australians. They faced a lot of discrimination and Australia's
Constitution said the government couldn't make laws for them or even count them
as part of the population.
FAITH
BANDLER, CAMPAIGN DIRECTOR: I feel that the time has come when Australia can no
longer tolerate legal racial discrimination against its Indigenous people.
A
lot of people, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, realised it was time to change
that. But that would require changing the Constitution. The Constitution is a really important legal document that kinda
acts like our nation's rule book. It sets out how the government is set up and
how laws are allowed to be made and enforced. Changing this thing isn't easy.
You have to have a referendum which is basically a big
public vote. For a change to pass more than half of the population, as well as
more than half of the states have to vote 'yes'. Out
of the 44 referendums that we've had only 8 have been successful. Including the
1967 referendum, with 90 percent of Aussies voting 'yes'. It was seen as a huge
win for all Australians, but for many it was just the beginning.
55
years later some say it's time for another referendum to recognise First
Nations people and give them more of a say in the running of their country.
It's something that many have been calling for, for a long time. In 2017
hundreds of Indigenous delegates met at Uluru and came up with this, the Uluru
Statement from the Heart. It outlined a number of
changes they wanted to see. Including the creation of a new group in federal
parliament, the First Nations Body, whose job it would be advise the government
on any laws and policies for Indigenous people. That would include things like
high incarceration rates, underemployment, as well as access to better
healthcare.
THOMAS
MAYOR, ULURU PARTICIPANT: Everything that we struggle with, everything that we
try and achieve all connects to the decisions made in Canberra by the federal
government. All of these things are decided in Canberra
with very little influence from Indigenous people.
But
for a group like that to be formed there would need to be changes made to the
Constitution. Which, as we all just found out, requires a referendum. Something
the Prime Minister at the time, Malcolm Turnbull, rejected.
MALCOLM
TURNBULL, FORMER PRIME MINISTER: I have to be honest
with you about this. I don't think it's a good idea and if it were put up in a
referendum, it would go down in flames.
It's
now been 5 years and people are still waiting for something to happen. Last
month the authors of the Uluru Statement reunited in North Queensland and are
now calling on the next government of Australia to hold a referendum within the
next two years.
NOLAN
HUNTER, ULURU DIALOGUE: When will we ever be ready? How long in history have we
gone? How long have Indigenous people in this country said the same thing over
and over and over?
Now
that a new government has been elected, advocates are hopeful that we will see
changes happen soon.
ANTHONY
ALBANESE: On behalf of the Australian Labor Party, I
commit to the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full.
LUKE
RUSSELL, GURAKI COMMITTEE: To have an Indigenous governing body advising our
government on Indigenous issues instead of having them made for us. To me,
that's the ultimate dream.