Australia Rejects Proposal to Recognize Indigenous People in Constitution
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Australians have voted overwhelmingly against including Indigenous people in the country’s constitution in what is seen as a major setback towards reconciliation.
Australians have overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to recognize Aboriginal people in the country’s constitution and create a body to advise parliament on Indigenous issues. Saturday’s ‘Voice to Parliament’ referendum failed with AP reporting that more than 59 percent of voters opposed the move with almost half the votes counted. The loss is unofficial but is not contested. The yes campaign needed to secure both a majority of the national vote, as well as majorities in four of Australia’s six states. The vote comes 235 years after British settlement, 61 years after Aboriginal Australians were given the right to vote, and 15 years since then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologized for past governments forcibly removing children from Indigenous families.
