Australia's government wants to give the indigenous population more say. Citizens are expected to vote on a constitutional amendment before the end of this year. This would give the indigenous people their own body, which would advise parliament on the interests of the indigenous people.
Till Fähnders
Political correspondent for Southeast Asia.
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For the first time, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Thursday made public the exact wording of the question to be put to Australians in the planned referendum. He spoke partly in a voice choked with tears. Some of the indigenous representatives who attended the proclamation also shed tears. "Many have been waiting for this moment for a very long time," Albanese said.
Referendum planned for the end of the year
Parliament is expected to adopt the wording for the referendum in June. The government of the social democratic Labor Party wanted to keep the question as simple as possible, so that Parliament, as legislator, would have the opportunity to determine the exact functions of the body.
The first part of the question therefore describes in a single sentence what is to be decided with the referendum: "A proposed law amending the constitution to recognise the first peoples of Australia by creating a voice of the Aborigines and the Torres Strait Islanders."
In the second part, citizens are asked whether they agree with the proposed amendment. According to the government, the referendum is expected to be held between October and December this year.
A working group of indigenous representatives and legal experts had agreed on the wording after lengthy consultations. A member of the working group, Indigenous Senator Patrick Dudson, spoke on Thursday of a "historic day". Australia's Aboriginal Minister Linda Burney recalled that Australian indigenous people like her had not even been included in censuses until 1967. This was also changed by a referendum at the time.
The conservative opposition repeated its criticism that the plan for the "Indigenous Voice to Parliament" lacked details. She will decide "in time" whether she wants to support the project or not, said opposition leader Peter Dutton.