Lemezina, Zrinka --- "Bipartisan Support for Constitutional Reform - Renewed Promises for Recognition of Indigenous Australians" [2010] IndigLawB 29; (2010) 7(19) Indigenous Law Bulletin 27

Bipartisan Support for Constitutional Reform – Renewed Promises for Recognition of Indigenous Australians

Compiled by Zrinka Lemezina

In an election campaign widely criticised for its lack of policies addressing the interests and concerns of Indigenous Australians, one major development seems to have passed by almost without notice. Constitutional reform, a longstanding goal for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, remains a high priority for rights campaigners, scholars, community leaders and international advocates.

Announced at Garma and reaffirmed in Sydney, this August saw our two major political parties reaffirm their commitment to constitutional reform. Recognising the need for a national referendum on the issue, the Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Jenny Macklin and the Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott both made unexpected public declarations about the importance of such a step to the Australian people.

Today I want to outline how we will pursue constitutional recognition of Indigenous people.

Federal Labor is committed to the recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the Australian Constitution. Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd re-enforced this commitment in Yirrkala in 2008.

We do not under-estimate this challenge as important as it is. There are diverse community views and only 8 out of 44 referendums since Federation have been successful. As you know, to succeed, a referendum must attract the support of a majority of the population and a majority of states.

Gaining support for constitutional change from the majority of Australians has been shown to be no easy task. Achieving this will require broad community agreement and political will from the major parties.

We are optimistic that this reform can happen. Former Prime Minister John Howard supported formal acknowledgement and recognition of Indigenous Australians in Australia’s Constitution. Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has said that he would support a reasonable proposition.

We are hopeful that this is an issue that can unite Australians and be above partisan political interests. And we are determined to make progress on this significant reform in our next term.

If re-elected, a Gillard Labor Government will establish an Expert Panel comprising Indigenous leaders, constitutional lawyers, Members of Parliament, and community representatives.

The Expert Panel would consider how best to progress constitutional recognition of Indigenous peoples, and provide options on the form of the amendment which could be put to the Australian people at a referendum.

Bipartisan support will be essential to the long-term success of the panel and beyond it to a referendum. And we are hopeful that this process will be bi-partisan.

Under a Gillard Government, the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition would jointly determine the membership and terms of reference for the Expert Panel.

It is not the Government’s intention to limit the terms of reference of the Panel to exclude any particular proposal. However, in light of the need for majority support at a referendum, I would anticipate that the Panel will focus, at least as a first step, on options for recognising Indigenous people in a preamble to the Constitution.

It is time to progress this important reform.

We may not get a second chance in our lifetimes, so we must make sure we build the most robust and persuasive case for change.

The Labor vision for the future of Australia is one where Indigenous Australians play an integral part in the nation’s life, based on full equality of opportunity.

A future where Indigenous cultures, languages and world views are respected and acknowledged as being central to who we are as Australians.

We have set down a path based on the twin principles of increased investment and fundamental policy reform.

Much more hard work lies ahead.

Our commitment is to work with Indigenous Australians to forge the better future which is the right of all Australian citizens.

Jenny Macklin, Address to the Garma Festival, North East Arnhem Land, Monday 9 August 2010.

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I think it’s very important that we should appropriately acknowledge the place of Indigenous people at the heart of modern Australia. I think it’s very, very important. On the other hand, I think that we’ve had a lot of symbolism over the last couple of years. We’ve now got to get on with making a difference for Aboriginal people … but we’ve got to get the right proposal. That won’t be easy and a successful referendum means the right proposal and that’s going to involve a lot of careful discussion with Indigenous people, with the wider Australian community. The last thing we would want would be to put a proposal of this nature to the people and have it fail.

Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, Joint Press Conference, Sydney, 10 August 2010.