Aboriginal constitutional recognition is worthless without a treaty
Campaign to recognise what? NEDA VANOVAC, 7 News September 19, 2014, “………….Northern Territory elder Rosalie Kunoth-Monks, think constitutional recognition is worthless without a treaty, and she criticised indigenous leaders who back the movement.
“You have the elite blacks that have been almost handpicked to be the voices for First Nation Australians: Noel Pearson, Marcia Langton, Adam Goodes; I don’t want him in there, he’s such a wonderful young ambassador but he better come and listen to us mob, too, and get what it is that makes us a First Nations person,” she told AAP.
She said she was “gutted” when the Prime Minister said last month that the arrival of the First Fleet “was the defining moment in the history of this continent”.
Ms Kunoth-Monks said Mr Abbott had delivered a double insult, since he purports to be a prime minister for indigenous affairs.
She sees constitutional recognition as another form of assimilation, and at a referendum “I hope those that have got a heart and a grasp on reality will also vote no”.
Aboriginal commentator Celeste Liddle has called the Recognise campaign “a government-sponsored ad campaign removed from grassroots indigenous opinion” and has asked where the funding is for the opposing view…….
“A key (reason) is to create a unifying moment for the nation where the first people of the country become included in our national founding document where they’ve previously been excluded,” she told AAP.
“That’s going to be a moment for all of us as Australians to celebrate together.”
She said legal experts had confirmed that voting yes for constitutional recognition does not pose any legal impediment for those seeking a treaty or sovereignly. But despite the message of unification, the campaign is not promising change after the vote, Ms Hosch said…….
An Expert Panel, which included indigenous and community leaders, constitutional experts and parliamentarians, consulted across Australia and reported to the Prime Minister in January 2012, recommending that Australians should vote in a referendum to:
remove Section 25, which says the states can ban people from voting based on their race
remove section 51(xxvi), which can be used to pass laws that discriminate against people based on their race
insert a new section 51A to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and to preserve the Australian government’s ability to pass laws for the benefit (not detriment) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
insert a new section 116A, banning racial discrimination by government
insert a new section 127A, recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages were this country’s first tongues, while confirming that English is Australia’s national language.(SOURCE: Recognise, www.recognise.org.au)
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