Everything you Need to Know About the Referendum to Recognise Indigenous Australians


Book Description

This book explains everything that Australians need to know about the proposal to recognise Aboriginal peoples in the Constitution. It details how our Constitution was drafted, and shows how Aboriginal peoples came to be excluded from the new political settlement. It explains what the 1967 referendum – in which over 90% of Australians voted to delete discriminatory references to Aboriginal people from the Constitution - achieved and why discriminatory racial references remain. With clarity and authority the book shows the symbolic and legal power of such a change and how we might get there. Concise and clear, it is written by two of the best-known experts in the country on matters legal, indigenous and constitutional. Recognise is essential reading on what should be a watershed occasion for our nation.




Everything You Need to Know about the Voice to Parliament


Book Description

In late 2023 Australians will vote in a referendum on enshrining an Indigenous Voice to parliament in the Constitution. What benefits will the Voice bring? And what was the journey to this point? Everything You Need to Know About the Voice to Parliament, written by co-author of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, Cobble Cobble woman Megan Davis, and fellow constitutional expert George Williams is essential reading on the Voice to parliament, how our Constitution was drafted, what the 1967 referendum achieved, and the Uluru Statement. It charts the journey of this nation-building reform from the earliest stages of Indigenous advocacy and, importantly, explains how the Voice to parliament offers change that will benefit the whole nation.




The 1967 Referendum


Book Description

On 27 May 1967 a remarkable event occurred. An overwhelming majority of electors voted in a national referendum to amend clauses of the Australian Constitution concerning Aboriginal people. Today it is commonly regarded as a turning point in the history of relations between Indigenous and white Australians: a historic moment when citizenship rights -- including the vote -- were granted and the Commonwealth at long last assumed responsibility for Aboriginal affairs. Yet the constitutional changes entailed in the referendum brought about none of these things. "The 1967 Referendum" explores the legal and political significance of the referendum and the long struggle by black and white Australians for constitutional change. It traces the emergence of a series of powerful narratives about the Australian Constitution and the status of Aborigines, revealing how and why the referendum campaign acquired so much significance and has since become the subject of highly charged myth in contemporary Australia. Attwood and Markus's text is complemented by personal recollections and opinions about the referendum by a range of Indigenous people, and historical documents and illustrations.




Everything You Need to Know about the Voice


Book Description

Australians will soon be faced with an important choice. Will they vote Yes to change our nation's Constitution to introduce an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice? Or will they vote No and bring the recognition process to a halt and, along with it, the aspirations of an overwhelming number of Australia's first peoples? The stakes could not be higher. In late 2023 Australians will vote in a referendum on enshrining an Indigenous Voice to parliament and government in the Constitution. What benefits will it bring? And what was the journey to this point? Everything You Need to Know about the Voice, written by co-author of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, Cobble Cobble woman Megan Davis, and fellow constitutional expert George Williams, is essential reading on the Voice to parliament and government, how our Constitution was drafted, what the 1967 referendum achieved, what it left unfinished and the Uluru Statement. This updated edition charts the journey of this nation-building reform from the earliest stages of Indigenous advocacy, explores myths and misconceptions and, importantly, explains how the Voice offers change that will benefit the whole nation. '...a vitally important book written for all Australians who have accepted the Uluru invitation and are walking with us in a journey of the Australian people for a better future.' - Patricia Anderson AO Alyawarre woman




Everything You Need to Know about the Uluru Statement from the Heart


Book Description

"We leave base camp and start our trek across this vast country. We invite you to walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future." On 26 May 2017, after a historic process of consultation, the Uluru Statement from the Heart was read out. This clear and urgent call for reform to the community from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples asked for the establishment of a First Nations Voice to Parliament protected in the constitution and a process of agreement-making and truth-telling. Voice. Treaty. Truth. What was the journey to this point? What do Australians need to know about the Uluru Statement from the Heart? And how can these reforms be achieved? Everything You Need to Know about the Uluru Statement from the Heart, written by Megan Davis and George Williams, two of Australia's best-known constitutional experts, is essential reading on how our Constitution was drafted, what the 1967 referendum achieved, and the lead-up and response to the Uluru Statement. Importantly, it explains how the Uluru Statement offers change that will benefit the whole nation.







No Small Change


Book Description

What lessons have been learned from the 1967 referendum? In 1967, Australians voted overwhelmingly in favour of altering two aspects of the Constitution that related to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Although these seemed like small amendments, they provided an impetus for real change - from terra nullius to land rights, and from assimilation to self - determination. Nearly 50 years later, there is a groundswell of support for our indigenous heritage to be formally recognised in the Constitution. As we await the new referendum, Frank Brennan considers how far we've come, and yet how much work lies ahead. With fresh, detailed research, he examines the work of the Council of Aboriginal Affairs, the pivotal Gove land rights case, and the attitudes of successive governments towards recognising traditional ownership. He also reminds us of the significance of constitutional change, assessing how the coming referendum might lead governments and indigenous Australians to negotiate better outcomes. Written by one of our most respected commentators on legal and human - rights issues, No Small Change is a vital contribution to our understanding of indigenous affairs. It will generate crucial debate on how we should acknowledge our country's history, and how this can make a difference to indigenous Australians today.




It's Our Country


Book Description

The idea of constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians has become a highly political and contentious issue. It is entangled in institutional processes that rarely allow the diversity of Indigenous opinion to be expressed. With a referendum on the agenda, it is now urgent that Indigenous people have a direct say in the form of recognition that constitutional change might achieve. It's Our Country: Indigenous Arguments for Meaningful Constitutional Recognition and Reform is a collection of essays by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander thinkers and leaders including Patrick Dodson, Noel Pearson, Dawn Casey, Nyunggai Warren Mundine and Mick Mansell. Each essay explores what recognition and constitutional reform might achieve—or not achieve—for Indigenous people.




Beyond White Guilt


Book Description

Large Print.




A Rightful Place


Book Description

The nation has unfinished business. After more than two centuries, can a rightful place be found for Australia’s original peoples? Soon we will all decide if and how Indigenous Australians will be recognised in the Constitution. In this essential book, several leading writers and thinkers provide a road map to recognition. Starting with the Uluru Statement from the Heart, these eloquent essays show what constitutional recognition means, and what it could make possible: a political voice, a fairer relationship and a renewed appreciation of an ancient culture. With remarkable clarity and power, they traverse law, history and culture to map the path to change. The contributors to A Rightful Place are Noel Pearson, Megan Davis, Stan Grant, Rod Little and Jackie Huggins, Damien Freeman and Nolan Hunter, Warren Mundine, and Shireen Morris. The book includes a foreword by Galarrwuy Yunupingu. A Rightful Place is edited by Shireen Morris, a lawyer and constitutional reform fellow at the Cape York Institute and researcher at Monash University.