referendum to give voice to aborigines. But not all natives approve

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s proposal contemplates the recognition of indigenous peoples in the Constitution and the creation of a consultative body called “Voice”. The opposition does not consider it necessary, while many natives would like to see a treaty negotiated with all the communities first.

Canberra () – After months of political debate, a referendum will be held in Australia at the end of the year to recognize in the Constitution indigenous peoples, made up of aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (the indigenous people who inhabit an archipelago in Queensland, north of the country). This was announced today by the Labor Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, when presenting the popular consultation, which will be submitted to Parliament next week, before the final vote in June.

The referendum is expected to take place between October and December. If the vote is successful, not only will the Constitution – which currently does not mention the country’s nearly 700,000 Aboriginal people – be amended, but an advisory body called “Voice” will also be created, through which Aboriginal people can express their opinion. on government policies, although without the right to veto.

The creation of this body had already been proposed in 2017 by a group of 250 aboriginal leaders who presented a document called the Uluru Statement from the Heart, which is considered historic in many aspects, but not unanimous.

In the Uluru Declaration (which was rejected at the time by Conservative Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull), Aboriginal people wrote that they feel “powerless” in trying to solve the structural problems that plague their community and that result in a shorter life expectancy, poorer school performance and sanitary conditions, and proportionally higher rates of imprisonment than descendants of British colonists.

According to one survey conducted last year, 60% of non-indigenous Australians would like the government to do more for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, but the plan to create Voice does not enjoy unanimous support, neither among Australian politicians nor among the peoples natives. There are those who fear the division of the country along racial lines, and several groups have campaigned in recent months in favor of “no”, complaining that the issue was reduced to an option for or against the proposal, hiding the diversity of views within the indigenous community.

The opposition argues that Aboriginal people are already well represented in Parliament thanks to the presence of 11 MPs, but according to Voice supporters, they come from specific constituencies and do not take into account Aboriginal interests as a whole. Some believe that even the Uluru Declaration does not represent all groups of indigenous peoples in Australia, while others would like more assurance about the exact functioning of the representative body. At the moment it is not clear what Voice will be like in practice. Under some proposals, it could be made up of 24 members from all the country’s territories and the Torres Islands, but in recent months Albanese has also angered some supporters of the proposal by claiming that Voice will be “reported” to Parliament. At the same time, the prime minister had declared that the details of the consultative body’s operation will only be finalized after the final approval of the referendum.

Other aborigines, on the other hand, fear that their recognition in the Constitution would amount to a cession of their lands to the Australian government. They do not approve of the referendum modality and prefer to negotiate directly with the government to reach the signing of a legally binding agreement with Canberra. In fact, Australia is the only nation in the British Commonwealth that has never signed a treaty with its indigenous peoples. Lidia Thorpe, former spokesperson for the Greens, left the party (which is now in favor of “yes”) because she was calling for a treaty to be negotiated first.

The Uluru Declaration calls for the creation of a Makarrata Commission to oversee the upcoming work and tell the truth about the history of Aboriginal communities.

For international observers, the success of the “yes” at the polls can by no means be taken for granted: for the proposal to pass, it must obtain 50% of the votes at the national level and a majority in at least four of the six Australian states.