Australians will soon be asked to vote in a referendum asking ‘Do you support an alteration to the Constitution that establishes an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice?’
Frank Brennan has been an advocate for Indigenous rights for 40 years. Here he shows the difficult path travelled by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders and their supporters to get to this question.
In the past, advocates argued for changes to Commonwealth Parliament’s powers to legislate for Indigenous Australians and to the capacity of the High Court to strike down racially discriminatory laws. They also offered changes to the Constitution that would acknowledge Indigenous history, reality and aspirations.
All those proposals are now replaced with the Voice. But is it to be a Voice to Parliament or a Voice to Parliament and to Government? Would the focus be only on special laws applying to the First Australians, or on any other relevant matters?
This book fairly outlines both the ‘Yes’ case and the ‘No’ case, so that voters can make up their own minds before casting their vote in the referendum.
Following the passing of the legislation necessary for the referendum on the Voice on 19 June, 2023, Frank Brennan has revised his bestselling An Indigenous Voice to Parliament. This third edition includes an additional chapter, chapter 11. titled The Die is Cast
Table des matières
Prologue
Where I’m Coming From 1
Chapter 1
A Task for Every Conscientious Citizen 11
Chapter 2
The Australian Constitution and Earlier Amendments 19
Chapter 3
History of Proposals for Indigenous Recognition 2007-2017 29
Chapter 4
The Uluru Statement and the Referendum Council 2017 45
Chapter 5
Mr Albanese at Garma 2022 61
Chapter 6
Seeking a Way Forward 71
Chapter 7
The ‘Yes’ Case 83
Chapter 8
The ‘No’ Case 95
Chapter 9
Where to from here? 109
Chapter 10
The Failed Quest for Bipartisanship on the Voice 119
Chapter 11
The Die is Cast 133
Appendices
Uluru Statement from the Heart 142
Letter to the Prime Minister, 9 November 2022 144
Letter to the Prime Minister and the
Leader of the Opposition, 5 March 2023 148
Suggested amendments to the Constitution 151
A propos de l’auteur
Frank Brennan is a Catholic priest, a lawyer and a member of the Jesuit Order. He has been a long-time advocate for the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, having commenced this public ministry as Adviser to the Queensland Catholic Bishops in 1982. He was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1995 for services to Aboriginal Australians, particularly as an advocate in the areas of law, social justice and reconciliation. He and Senator Patrick Dodson shared the inaugural Human Rights Award from the Australian Council for Overseas Aid. In 2015, he published No Small Change: The Road to Recognition for Indigenous Australia. He chaired the National Human Rights Consultation for the Rudd Government, was a member of the expert panel on religious freedom for the Turnbull Government, and a member of the Morrison Government’s Senior Advisory Group guiding the co-design process to develop an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice.