Australia’s Indigenous Voice: Learn about the consequential referendum | CBC News

Australia’s main opposition party on Wednesday decided to oppose the government’s model for constitutional recognition of Indigenous people in a development that appears to doom the prospects of a successful referendum this year.

Bipartisan support of the major political parties is widely regarded as a prerequisite for success, but lawmakers in the conservative Liberal Party said they’ll oppose the government’s proposal to create a so-called Indigenous Voice to Parliament. 

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton of the Liberals said his lawmakers would prefer Indigenous people were represented by regional and local leaders rather than an entity in the national capital Canberra. Senior Liberal lawmakers would campaign for a No vote, Dutton said.

“What I fear with the Voice is that it changes our system of government forever and we end up with no practical net benefit to people in Indigenous communities and that would be the worst of both worlds,” Dutton told reporters.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the Liberal Party’s stance made the constitutional change more difficult to achieve.

“It’s not about me or Peter Dutton or any other politician,” Albanese told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. “It’s about Australia, how we see ourselves, whether we give respect and recognize the fact we share this great island continent of ours with the oldest continuing culture on Earth, and whether we have a process where we listen — we give a voice to — Indigenous Australians.”

Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney, the first Indigenous woman to fill the role, stood by the wording of the referendum questions, saying they were “very, very clear in terms of the role of the Parliament.” She expressed confidence that the referendum would succeed.

The referendum has been planned for between October and December. Here are some questions and answers about key issues behind the referendum:

What would the Voice look like?

Parliament would make laws relating to the Voice, “including its composition, functions, powers and procedures.”

The Voice’s members, it has been agreed, would be chosen by Indigenous people and would serve for fixed terms. They would come from every Australian state and territory as well as the Torres Strait islands and remote areas. Gender representation would be equal and Indigenous youths would be included.

Proponents say there would be no Indigenous right of veto over government policy. Opponents argue the courts might interpret the Voice’s constitutional powers in unpredictable ways, creating uncertainty.

Who are Australia’s Indigenous peoples?

Australia is unusual among former British colonies in that no treaty was ever signed with the nation’s Indigenous inhabitants. The Aboriginal people of Australia’s mainland are culturally distinct from Torres Strait Islanders who come from an archipelago off the northeast coast. So Australia’s Indigenous population is known collectively as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

They accounted for 3.2 per cent of Australia’s population in the 2021 census. Indigenous numbers had soared 25 per cent since the previous census in 2016.

Indigenous Australians are the most disadvantaged ethnic group in Australia. Structural racism has contributed to Indigenous Australians dying younger than the average rate, being less likely to be employed or in higher education and being over-represented in prison populations.

LISTEN | More on the referendum to acknowledge Australia’s Indigenous peoples in the constitution:

How was the Voice proposal developed and received?

The Voice was recommended in 2017 by a group of 250 Indigenous leaders who met at Uluru, a landmark sandstone rock in central Australia that they consider to be a sacred site. They were delegates of the First Nations National Constitutional Convention, which the then-government had asked for advice on how the Indigenous population could be acknowledged in the constitution.

The conservative government at the time immediately rejected the proposal, arguing that a Voice would be seen as a “third chamber” of Parliament.

When Labour won elections in May 2022, Albanese used his first speech to commit his government to creating the Voice.

The Nationals party, which was the Liberals’ junior partner in the last coalition government, declared its opposition in November, saying it would divide the Australian population along racial lines. It also pointed out that there were several Indigenous lawmakers in Parliament.

What’s the track record on Australian referendums?

Changing Australia’s constitution has never been easy. Of the 44 referendums held since 1901, only eight have carried, and not since 1977.

Critics question why the federal government doesn’t legislate to create a Voice without changing the constitution. South Australia at the state level in February introduced legislation to create Australia’s first Voice to Parliament for First Nations People.

But Voice proponents argue that recognition of Indigenous Australians federally in the constitution was an important element of the reform.

Where’s public sentiment on the issue?

A poll published in The Australian newspaper on Wednesday found that 54 per cent of respondents supported the Voice proposition and 38 per cent opposed it. The poll was based on a survey of 4,756 voters between Feb. 1 and April 3. It has a less than three percentage point margin of error.

Many suggest public support needs to be higher for the constitution to change.

How might the referendum work?

The proposed referendum question only asks Australians if they agree with the Voice in principle. 

The latest draft of the question is: “A proposed law: To alter the constitution to recognize the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. Do you approve this proposed alteration?”

If the answer is Yes, the constitution would be rewritten to state that the “Voice may make representations” to the Parliament and government “on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.”