Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today marks the anniversary of Australia's most successful referendum and a defining event in our nation's history. It has been 48 years since over 90 per cent of Australians voted to give the Commonwealth the power to make laws in relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island peoples and to allow for them to be included in the census. What this referendum did not do, however, was recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island peoples as Australia's first peoples; nor did it alter or remove the text in our constitution that discriminates against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders on the basis of race.

The Constitution is the founding document of our nation and is our pre-eminent source of law. It was drafted at a time when Australia was considered 'terra nullius'—a land that belonged to no-one prior to European settlement—and when Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples were considered a 'dying race', not worthy of citizenship or humanity. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples were excluded from discussions about the creation of a new nation situated on their ancestral lands and waters. This is not a sound basis for a truly reconciled nation. It is offensive in the same way that the forced closure of Indigenous communities is offensive. It has no part in Australia's future. I welcome the bipartisan discussions that are occurring with Indigenous leaders and look forward to a referendum to finally recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in our Constitution—a referendum that is every bit as successful as the defining event of 1967. It is vital that this important opportunity for change is not missed.