Referendum in Australia to recognize aborigines in Constitution

Canberra, Mar 24 (Prensa Latina) The Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, announced today that by the end of the year a referendum will be held in the nation to recognize the indigenous peoples in the Constitution.

March 24, 2023
11:35

Albanese presented the popular consultation, which will be submitted to Parliament next week, before the final vote in June.

This referendum will modify the Constitution, which currently does not mention the nearly 700 thousand aborigines of the country and will create a consultative body called Voice, where they will be able to express their opinion on the Government’s policies.

According to a survey conducted last year, 60 percent of non-indigenous Australians would like the government to do more for Aborigines.

Nonetheless, the nation’s opposition argues that Aboriginal people are already well represented in Parliament thanks to the presence of 11 MPs.

However, those representatives come from specific constituencies and do not take into account Aboriginal interests as a whole.

The referendum is expected to be held between October and December next.

jrr/jav/lam/lvp