Australians Reject Indigenous Advisory Panel: Impact & Challenges
Australians recently voted against establishing an Indigenous advisory panel, highlighting inequities faced by Indigenous Australians. The referendum faced misinformation and lacked clarity on its benefits. The rejection raises questions on addressing Indigenous issues, impacting Australia's global perception. The decision reflects deeper social challenges and the need for unified efforts to uplift Indigenous communities.
Download Presentation
Please find below an Image/Link to download the presentation.
The content on the website is provided AS IS for your information and personal use only. It may not be sold, licensed, or shared on other websites without obtaining consent from the author. Download presentation by click this link. If you encounter any issues during the download, it is possible that the publisher has removed the file from their server.
E N D
Presentation Transcript
CQ Press Lecture Spark OCTOBER 24, 2023 Connecting current events to your International Relations classroom
Australians Reject Creating an Indigenous Advisory Panel Earlier this month Australians voted in a referendum on whether to establish an Indigenous advisory panel. The proposed advocacy committee would have provided advice to Parliament on matters that pertained to Australia s Indigenous people. Ultimately, the referendum was soundly defeated with six out of ten voters not supporting the measure. Australia has compulsory voting and more than 17 million people participated. Those who supported creating the board point out inequities Indigenous Australians face compared to non-Indigenous Australians on issues ranging from health to education. What happened in Australia? 2
Australians Reject Creating an Indigenous Advisory Panel If the referendum had passed the Australian constitution would have been amended to recognize Australia s Indigenous people who represent around 4% of the country s population. Despite having a presence in Australia going back over 65,000 years, Indigenous people have been subjected to atrocities at first by the British and later by the Australian government and only within the last few decades have First Peoples been granted rights. Proponents of the referendum believed that over time the permanent, democratically elected advisory panel would be able to influence policies - through access -that improved the lives of Australia s Indigenous population. Who committed atrocities against Australia s Indigenous population? 3
Background and Key Concepts On Saturday, October 14 Australian voters rejected expanding rights for Australia s Indigenous population. The referendum was defined by misinformation, racism, and a lack of clarity concerning how exactly establishing an Indigenous advisory panel would improve the lives of Australia s Indigenous people. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese supported the referendum and believed it would unify his country, however, not all Indigenous people supported the measure as some felt it didn t go far enough in addressing the myriad of challenges that face First Peoples in Australia. By nearly every measure Indigenous Australians quality of life is below that of their non- Indigenous counterparts ranging from a lower life expectancy to higher infant mortality, suicide, and incarceration rates. Polls leading up to the referendum indicated that voters - who are overwhelmingly white - ranked issues related to Australia s Indigenous population towards the bottom of the list. The likelihood that the referendum would pass faced an uphill battle considering a majority of voters would have needed to support it along with a minimum of four of Australia s six states. Meanwhile no referendum has been passed in Australia since 1977. There remain questions on how the rejection of the referendum will impact Australia s image on the world stage and whether it will set back efforts to elevate the plight of Indigenous people throughout the world. 4
Assessment Writing: What is the significance of the referendum in Australia? Debate:What is the best way to address inequities facing Australia s Indigenous population? Poll: Should voting be compulsory? Short Answer:What are the ramifications of voters rejecting expanding rights for Australia s Indigenous population? 5
