Abbott government pushes back Indigenous recognition timetable
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Version 0 of 1. The Abbott government is clearly pushing back the timing for a landmark referendum to recognise Indigenous Australians in the constitution. The Indigenous affairs minister has said the change is unlikely to be considered in this parliamentary term. The prime minister, Tony Abbott, is about to embark on a visit to Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory in order to honour an election commitment to spend time each year in a remote community. In the lead-up to this visit, over the past few days, the Coalition has been dampening public expectations that constitutional recognition will be achieved quickly, or involve an ambitious proposal for change. The Indigenous affairs minister, Nigel Scullion, was interviewed by Sky News on Tuesday afternoon. He used the interview to reset expectations not only about timing, but about content of the reform proposal to be put to voters. Scullion intimated the reform proposal needed to be modest and mainstream, rather than something that advanced a “rights” agenda. He said issues of discrimination did not need to be dealt with in the constitution. He argued that legislation existed elsewhere to prevent discrimination on the grounds of race. An expert panel in 2012 recommended that a new section be inserted in the constitution as part of the recognition process that would prohibit discrimination on the grounds of race, colour or ethnic or national origin. Scullion knocked this proposal on the head. “My personal view is that anything that moves towards a bill of rights, I’m not that fond of. We need a set of changes that Australia accepts,” he said. Scullion also said it was unlikely the referendum would be put to voters in this term of parliament. He said it would be a “very brave” government who injected this issue into its first bid for re-election. “I want a clear space for this,” Scullion said. “The clear space seems to be in 2017, after the next election.” A new joint parliamentary committee set up by the Abbott government to lay the groundwork for constitutional change has proposed reforms, including creating a positive protection against discrimination. The change would allow the Commonwealth to legislate with respect to Indigenous people as long as the proposal is not discriminatory. This is a draft recommendation. A final report is not due until June 2015. There has been a public push from some Indigenous leaders to advance the referendum in this parliamentary term rather than see momentum lost. But that proposition now appears all but dead. Abbott has long articulated in-principle support for constitutional recognition, but the issue has the potential to split the Coalition’s conservative base, and the current party room. Scullion’s public comments on Tuesday reflect strong internal resistance to the idea of reform going beyond a symbolic gesture to Indigenous people. Labor for its part has signalled it supports constitutional change which explicitly addresses discrimination. In early August the Labor leader, Bill Shorten, said reform should go beyond symbolic statements in a preamble to the constitution; racism needed to be confronted as well. History indicates that proposals for constitutional change in Australia need bipartisan support if they are to succeed. |