Labor govt to recognise Aborigines

Amendments to the Australian constitution to recognise Aborigines will be put to a
referendum under a re-elected Labor government, Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny
Macklin says.
Ms Macklin said constitutional recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
would be an important step in strengthening the relationship between indigenous and
non-indigenous Australians and building trust.
Ms Macklin who was in Nhulunbuy in Arnhem Land on Sunday to release the government's
Closing The Gap policy said an expert panel would establish how the constitution
should be amended.
"If constitutional change is going to happen it needs to have very broad community
support," she told reporters.
"We all do need to recognise how few referenda have been successful in Australia,
just eight of 44 since Federation, if a referenda on the recognition of indigenous
peoples in the constitution is to be successful, it will need to gather community
support."
She said former prime minister Kevin Rudd, as well as the coalition's former prime
minister John Howard, had been in favour of reform, and she was seeking bipartisan
support from opposition leader Tony Abbott.
Ms Macklin denied the announcement was being made off the back of criticism that
both Labor and Liberal parties had neglected to address indigenous disadvantage
during the election campaign.
While many people have welcomed the announcement, others have criticised her visit
to Arnhem Land, saying the Garma Festival is no place for political campaigning.
Ms Macklin took the opportunity to highlight Mr Rudd's apology to the stolen
generation and the fact that Labor, since coming into power in 2007, had allocated
unprecedented levels of funding to close the life expectancy gap between indigenous
and non-indigenous Australians.
She unveiled the government's $5.75 billion plan to address indigenous disadvantage
over the next three years, much of which had already been revealed during budget
estimates.
She announced a re-elected Labor government would commit $20 million towards
breaking the cycle of alcohol and drug abuse in Aboriginal communities.
Member for Lingiari, Indigenous Health Minister Warren Snowdon, whose electorate
includes Arnhem Land on Saturday unveiled a new mobile renal service for the
Northern Territory.
The bus will enable people needing dialysis on a regular basis to attend funerals
and festivals in their home community, many for the first time since they became
ill.
Aboriginal leader and former Australian of the Year Galarrwuy Yunupingu welcomed the
pledge by Ms Macklin on Sunday.
"This announcement brings us all as Australians one step closer to a constitution
that truly recognises all Australians, particularly the first Australians," he said
in a statement.
The Australian Greens also backed the move.
"It is long past time indigenous Australians were recognised in the supreme legal
document of Australia as the first owners of this nation," Greens leader Bob Brown
said in a statement.