The indigenous peoples of Australia should have an advisory body in Parliament. But in the referendum a majority spoke out against it. Young indigenous people are disappointed.
Charlee, Amira and Mona from Perth have been knocking on doors, talking and handing out flyers since the beginning of the year. But their effort was in vain. The referendum that was supposed to give Indigenous people in Australia a greater say in politics has failed.
Charlee is 19, from an indigenous family – and is now very disappointed. “Most people have forgotten all about it in a month. But I have to live with it forever,” she says. As she sees it, it was only about an advisory body – anchored in the constitution. “This doesn’t hurt anyone. This is for me and my people, it has no impact on anyone else,” says Charlee. “If we can’t even agree on a simple advisory body – what does that say about Australia?”
60,000 years on the continent
This view is also shared by indigenous Stephen van Leeuwen, professor at Curtin University in Perth: “The Constitution may only be a piece of paper, but it is so important that we are recognized as the original inhabitants of Australia.” Because the indigenous people, he says, have been living on the continent for more than 60,000 years, the settlers have only been living on the continent for around 250 years. “On a 12-hour clock, their time here is about 15 seconds, compared to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people,” says van Leeuwen.
The indigenous people of Australia are still disadvantaged today. Many are poorly educated, die earlier, live on the fringes of society, and the crime rate is high. 21-year-old Amira knows the numbers; she is studying political science. “Right now their life expectancy is eight years less, young Indigenous people are more likely to end up in prison than go to university,” she says.
Delegates from Australia’s Central Land Council campaigned near Uluru for a “yes” vote in the referendum.
Get out of the cycle
Charlee is one of the exceptions who made it out of the cycle of poverty and violence. She is now studying social work. Charlee’s friend Emma is often shocked when Charlee tells her what she has experienced in her 19 years of life and what stereotypes she and her family are confronted with.
They go something like this: “Aborigines get so many cars and houses for free, of course, I drive to school in my Lamborgine,” says Charlee: “If that were the case, I wouldn’t be standing here. We don’t get anything for free. I don’t know where they got it. My family has to work.”
Emma has a guess as to what the problem is: “Australians simply have little exposure to Aboriginal people, they have stereotypes in their heads without knowing the culture or what’s really going on in their rural communities.”
A majority of Australians voted “no” in the referendum.
prime minister admits defeat
Therefore, Charlee’s hope that something would change as a result of the referendum was high. “I think if we had an advisory body that speaks for us, an Aboriginal person who sees and knows what we need, more education, more sex education, more health care, I think that would help increase life expectancy.”
But the referendum has failed for now, admits Prime Minister Anthony Albanese: “The result of the referendum is not what I had hoped. But I respect the decision and the democratic process that got us there.” He now wants to look for new ways to achieve greater equality. But there is no plan B yet.
“Sometimes there are breakthroughs, sometimes hearts break”
Indigenous Affairs Minister Linda Burney still wants to draw something positive from the story. “I know this result is difficult for some, but it is never easy to make progress, and progress is not always linear. Sometimes there are breakthroughs, sometimes hearts are broken,” she says: “But I am confident that “This campaign and the millions of conversations it has sparked will create a new generation of Indigenous leaders.”
Maybe Charlee will be one of them someday. “I have the feeling that I have fought for my rights my whole life,” she says: “And my grandmothers and aunts have fought for them. It shouldn’t go on for generations, it should have stopped long ago, but it continues.”
Charlee says she will keep fighting too.