Why in the News?

Australians will vote in a referendum to be held soon, to decide whether the country’s indigenous peoples should be formally consulted in making laws.

Who are the ‘First Peoples of Australia’?

1. ‘First Peoples of Australia’ or  ‘aboriginal’, refers to the indigenous inhabitants of the continent.
2. They are people who lived on the Australian mainland and surrounding islands for tens of thousands of years before the first Europeans arrived in the early 17th century.
3. The referendum shall pave way to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.
4. The Torres Strait Islands is an archipelago(group of islands and the sea around them) of small islands in the Torres Strait, a narrow body of water between the northern tip of the state of Queensland and the large island of Papua New Guinea.

What does the referendum seek to do, and why?

1. It bases questions on:
   1. whether indigenous Australians should be recognised in the country’s Constitution
   2. whether a body called the indigenous “Voice to Parliament” should be set up to advise lawmakers on matters that impact their lives. 
2.  The Aboriginals find no mention in Australia’s 122-year-old Constitution.
3. Aboriginal people make up about 3.2% of Australia’s population and are below national averages on most socio-economic measures. 
4. Indigenous Australians have:
   1. A life expectancy 8 years shorter than non-Indigenous Australians
   2. Worse rates of disease and infant mortality
   3. A suicide rate twice as high as non-Indigenous Australians.
5. Constituting a body for Indigenous Australians would ensure a voice for the original inhabitants of the continent.

How far back before the arrival of the Europeans can Australia’s history be traced?

1. Ancient rock carvings suggest humans inhabited Australia some 45,000 years ago.
2. The first documented landing of a European was by the Dutch explorer Willem Janszoon on the western side of Cape York peninsula in 1606.
3. The Europeans were aware at the time of a land mass in the southern hemisphere called Terra Australia Incognita, meaning Unknown South Land, but there is no confirmed evidence of claimed landings earlier.
4. Captain James Cook’s famous voyages took place in the second half of the 18th century and the early British settlers on the continent were criminals and convicts who were sent there to serve their prison sentences.
5. Between 1788 and 1868, more than 162,000 convicts in crimes committed in Britain and Ireland were transported to Australia.

How did the Australian government’s policies impact indigenous people?

1. Laws and policies made by the colonial settlers over time contributed to the marginalisation of the indigenous communities.
2. The indigenous communities fared increasingly worse than their non-native counterparts on indicators like education and life expectancy.
3. Under the Infants Welfare Act of 1935, indigenous children on Cape Barren Island were removed from their families based on claims of child neglect and were placed in the care of non-native families and institutions.
4. This has kept the children separate from their culture, often facing abuse as well and those children are now referred to as “The Stolen Generation”. 
5. In recent years, legislation to improve the status of indigenous Australians has been introduced.
   1. Voting rights were granted in 1962
   2. Australia’s apex court decided that native title exists over particular kinds of lands — unalienated Crown Lands, national parks and reserves in 1992
   3. The Stolen Generation was tracked in 1997 resulting in the “Bringing Them Home” report.

Why then does the referendum appear likely to fail?

1. For the referendum to be passed, > 50% of voters must vote in favour nationally, plus the majority of voters in the majority of Australian states.
2. Any constitutional alterations in Australia require a national referendum.
3. Voting is compulsory for all adults.
4. Opposition parties have opposed the referendum arguing that details of the proposed body have not been made clear. Also, such a move would amount to dividing Australian society on the lines of race.