COVID-19 has shown up a mind-bending contradiction. On one hand, the arts are entwined with our daily lives. Yet culture has disappeared from federal policy. Something has gone fundamentally wrong.
The Indigenous Constitutional Voice has been miscast by mischievous politicians as quasi-separatism. Australians were frightened by the inference it was not just illiberal, but un-Australian.
State archives hold precious Noongar letters pleading for the return of Stolen Generations children. Among them, I find my grandmother’s grandfather: historical records of love.
The Australian Aboriginal Progressive Association, founded in 1924, made several demands to protect Indigenous rights, including installing an Aboriginal board to sit beneath the federal government.
The Coalition government is stressing partnerships and accountability in its Indigenous policies, but PM Scott Morrison is actually taking a top-down approach and ignoring Indigenous advice.
We have welcomed the opportunity to guide the co-design process because we feel this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to recast how decisions are made in Indigenous affairs.
As the first Indigenous federal cabinet minister, Ken Wyatt is widely respected in first peoples communities, but by the same token, the expectations on him are very high.
Marnee Shay, The University of Queensland; Annette Woods, Queensland University of Technology, and Grace Sarra, Queensland University of Technology
A group of school students have just shown what real leadership looks like on Indigenous issues – and you’ll hear more about their ideas in coming months at your local school, childcare centre or uni.
Anthony Albanese says an Indigenous Voice must be enshrined in the Constitution, making it difficult to see how he and Scott Morrison will be able to agree on a referendum question.
Queensland has become the latest state or territory to embark on an Indigenous treaty process. But for lasting progress to be made, the federal government cannot shirk its responsibility.
Megan Davis on a First Nations Voice in the Constitution
The Conversation, CC BY31.4 MB(download)
Megan Davis says the idea of including an Indigenous Voice in the Constitution is being rejected on an understanding that "simply isn't true" but believes Australia has the "capacity to correct this".
Michelle Grattan speaks with University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor Deep Saini about the government’s plans to put forward a referendum to recognise Indigenous Australians in the Constitution.
It would be another miracle if the Morrison government managed to have a referendum passed to give Australia’s Indigenous people constitutional recognition.
Ken Wyatt’s promise of a referendum on constitutional recognition within three years marks a dramatic shift from the Turnbull government’s rejection of the Uluru Statement of the Heart.
While the new minister has the chance to make a real difference, unrealistic expectations of him should be tempered- real change will take not just the whole government, but the nation.
First, change the constitution. Then, negotiate the detailed design of the First Nations voice to parliament: this is the only way to bring about meaningful reform.
The myth of ‘the Queensland voter’, Australia’s trust deficit, and the path to Indigenous recognition
The Conversation122 MB(download)
Today, an election-themed episode about some of the biggest policy questions Australia faces, featuring Indigenous academic lawyer Eddie Synot and political scientist Anne Tiernan.
Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences, Auckland University of Technology, and Professor of Political Science, Charles Sturt University