Voice referendum: Australia to hold historic Indigenous vote in October

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Australians will vote in a historic referendum on 14 October to decide whether to enact an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.

If approved, the vote would recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the country's constitution, and establish a permanent body for them to give advice on laws.

The proposal is the subject of fierce debate in Australia.

The country has not had a successful referendum in almost 50 years.

For it to succeed, a majority of Australians need to vote yes. There also needs to be majority support in at least four of Australia's six states.

The composition, functions and powers of the body - whose advice would not be binding - would then be designed and debated by the parliament.

 

Announcing the poll date at a rally in Adelaide, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the vote "a once-in-a-generation chance to bring our country together and to change it for the better".

The Voice would be "a committee of Indigenous Australians, chosen by Indigenous Australians, giving advice to government so that we can get a better result for Indigenous Australians", he said.

"You're being asked... to say yes to an idea whose time has come - to say yes to an invitation that comes directly from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people themselves."

 

FULL STORY

 

[Hanaguma]

What a crap idea.

 

Just what a country needs- another useless talking shop with no actual powers. But, with a nice fat budget for those who want to stick their collective snouts into the trough of government largesse.

 

Aboriginal people already have power- they can vote, just like everyone else. 

[JonnyF]

Ridiculous.

 

If this gets through, what is next? A committee of Muslims? Women? Asians? LGBT's? Dwarfs?

 

One person, one vote. That's how it works. No need for this undemocratic nonsense for specific races, ethnicities, cultures, genders, religions etc.

[LosLobo]

2 hours ago, JonnyF said:

Ridiculous.

 

If this gets through, what is next? A committee of Muslims? Women? Asians? LGBT's? Dwarfs?

 

One person, one vote. That's how it works. No need for this undemocratic nonsense for specific races, ethnicities, cultures, genders, religions etc.

Currently aborigines are discriminated against in Australia and are not considered by conservatives to be equal to the mainly European population.

 

The first Europeans killed most of the aboriginal population.

 

Does this scenario sound familiar?

 

Overall, the purpose of the referendum in 2023 in Australia is to address constitutional recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, promote equality, and remove any remaining discriminatory provisions.

[JonnyF]

29 minutes ago, LosLobo said:

Currently aborigines are discriminated against in Australia and are not considered by conservatives to be equal to the mainly European population.

 

The first Europeans killed most of the aboriginal population.

 

Does this scenario sound familiar?

 

Overall, the purpose of the referendum in 2023 in Australia is to address constitutional recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, promote equality, and remove any remaining discriminatory provisions.

There are already laws in place to deal with any discrimination (if it actually exists). Those laws need to be enforced stringently (if they are not already).

 

There is no need for a "selected committee" that includes/excludes individuals based on ethnic or racial background. That is what is known as Racism. Everyone should be treated equally according to the law irrespective of race, sex, religion or events that occurred hundreds of years ago.

 

Dragging up events from the distant past is a great way of dividing people in the present and not moving forward.

[ozimoron]

It's funny how people are opposed to having a large stakeholder form a committee to give advice to politicians who mostly know very little about relevant issues concerning that stakeholder body.

 

Particularly when that demographic group is indigenous Australian and has been subject to some of the worst human rights abuses world wide and endemic official and general discrimination with extremely low levels of private sector employment and continues to have some of the worst (actually, the worst) education and health outcomes in any country.

Edited August 30, 2023 by ozimoron

[LosLobo]

37 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

There are already laws in place to deal with any discrimination (if it actually exists). Those laws need to be enforced stringently (if they are not already).

 

There is no need for a "selected committee" that includes/excludes individuals based on ethnic or racial background. That is what is known as Racism. Everyone should be treated equally according to the law irrespective of race, sex, religion or events that occurred hundreds of years ago.

 

Dragging up events from the distant past is a great way of dividing people in the present and not moving forward.

Obviously, you have little knowledge on the Australian Constitution.

 

Coincidently, the framers of the Australian Constitution drew extensively upon the United States model for many of its aspects.

 

'The Australian Constitution currently contains no protections against racial discrimination and the Parliament is capable of suspending existing statutory protections.

 

The protections under Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth)– the federal legislation designed to ensure equality of treatment of all people regardless of their race, have been removed on three occasions: each time it has involved Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issues'.

 

Constitutional reform: FAQs - Why reform of the Constitution is needed | Australian Human Rights Commission