Australia rejects proposal to recognise Aboriginal people in constitution

GreyShuck@feddit.uk to World News@lemmy.world – 952 points –
Australia rejects proposal to recognise Aboriginal people in constitution
theguardian.com

Australians have resoundingly rejected a proposal to recognise Aboriginal people in its constitution and establish a body to advise parliament on Indigenous issues.

Saturday’s voice to parliament referendum failed, with the defeat clear shortly after polls closed.

361

You are viewing a single comment

Yeah but this is the present.

Canada is actively shitty to their indigenous people.

I'm from the UK so I can vouch that the government are actively shitty to it's not rich people.

If I want to explain the class system to someone from a former colony, I start with colonialism, but practised at home.

I'm not disagreeing with you, but the point to understand here is that Australia cannot even make it over the very first hurdle. Indigenous peoples are recognised in Canada's constitution, the Canadian government has signed many treaties over hundreds of years and Canada even has a form of Indigenous self-governance in Nunavut. Australia cannot get anywhere even close to these things. Constitutional recognition was just rejected, widespread treaty making is only in its infancy and self-governance is an absolute pipe dream.

Other former colonies may be shitty towards their Indigenous peoples, but at the very least there is generally some form of recognition of their importance as Indigenous. In Australia, we do not even see Indigenous peoples as Indigenous. We don't understand what that word actually means. So much of the commentary from No voters during this referendum was about how Indigenous Australians are just another racial minority group, equating them with Chinese Australians, Indian Australians, etc. People fundamentally do not understand the difference, because they do not understand the history of their own country.

It could be ignorance, but as a Canadian of European descent, I'd have claimed we were passively shitty more than actively shitty.

Sorry to yell you, but Canada has been, and still is, actively shitty to the indigenous peoples. Just more polite about it in public.