Australia PM condemns ‘scare’ tactics on Indigenous reform
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Saturday attacked an opposition “scare campaign” against his plan to give Indigenous people a constitutional right to be consulted on laws that impact them.
Opinion polls show faltering support for the reform, which was proposed by Indigenous communities to give them a so-called Voice on policymaking as well as recognition in the constitution for the first time, AFP reported.
Australians will vote on it in a referendum expected in mid-October.
An Essential survey of 1,150 voters released last week put the “no” camp ahead for the first time with 47 percent against, 43 percent in favour and 10 percent undecided.
Other recent surveys indicated the “yes” side was slightly ahead despite a gradual decline over the past year.
To pass, the constitutional amendment needs a majority of votes in favour, both nationally and in most states.
Albanese said the conservative opposition Liberal Party had been “running a scare campaign about the Voice”.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton has warned that putting the Voice in the constitution would “change our whole system of government”.
But he has vowed to simply recognise Indigenous people in the constitution if he wins government.
Supporters say the constitutional reform enshrining a Voice would help address the colonial legacy and inequalities faced by Aboriginal Australians, whose ancestors have lived on the continent for at least 60,000 years.
More than 200 years since British settlement and the ensuing persecution of Indigenous Australians, they are more likely to be poor, undereducated, sick or jailed.
But opponents say the proposal is divisive, lacks detail, adds unnecessary bureaucracy and risks clogging up the courts.