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27-03-2023
Bureau Report
CANBERRA/ SYDNEY: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has outlined details of a proposed referendum to be held later this year aimed at giving recognition in the constitution to the nation’s Indigenous people.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, who represent about 3.8 percent of Australia’s population, are 
currently not mentioned in the constitution. For 122 years, Australia’s founding document has failed to recognize Indigenous communities and their more than 65,000 years of continuous connection to the land.
The referendum to be held between October and December will seek to enshrine in the constitution recognition of Indigenous people through the establishment of a consultative committee to parliament called the “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice”.
An emotional Albanese said on Thursday that such a body promoting Indigenous views to the government and parliament was needed to overcome systemic disadvantage experienced by generations of Indigenous people.
“We urgently need better outcomes because it’s not good enough where we’re at in 2023,” Albanese told reporters. “On every measure, there is a gap between the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the national average,” Albanese said.
“A 10-year gap in life expectancy, a suicide rate twice as high, tragic levels of child mortality and disease, a massive overrepresentation in the prison population and deaths in custody, in children sent to out-of-home care,” he said.
“And this is not because of a shortage of goodwill or good intentions on any side of politics and it’s not because of a lack of funds. It’s because governments have spent decades trying to impose solutions from Canberra rather than consulting with communities,” he added.
“If not now, when…” a visibly emotional Albanese said, pausing several times while reading a prepared statement.
“Today is the result of years of patient and passionate work,” the prime minister wrote in a tweet. “Now, the chance to make history and create a better future belongs to you, the people of Australia,” he said.
