Australia: Thousands Rally For Indigenous Referendum

Thousands Australians rallied on Sunday to support recognising the Country’s Indigenous people in the constitution, a proposal that is struggling ahead of a referendum next month.

If approved on October 14, the measure would enshrine Indigenous people in the constitution and set up an advisory body to give Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people input on policies that affect them.

Indigenous Australians, who account for 3.8% of the population, face disadvantages including discrimination, poor health and education outcomes and high incarceration rates.

However, the “Voice to Parliament” proposal appeared on track for defeat, a poll showed last week, the fifth monthly survey in a row to find voters against the change.

Yes23, the group behind “Walk for Yes” events, said around 20,000 people attended in Brisbane, Australia’s third-biggest city, with rallies scheduled in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Hobart, Canberra, Darwin and Newcastle.

Many attendees wore T-shirts and held placards emblazoned “Vote Yes!”, Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC) footage showed.

“If we can do just three things, accountability, jobs and education, then we’ll resolve most of the problems we’ve got,” Mundine told ABC.

Since Australian independence in 1901, only eight of 44 proposals for constitutional change have been approved.

REUTERS