Post Referendum Policies and Indigenous Australian

Running Head: PRE AND POST REFERENDUM POLICIES AND INDIGENOUS
AUSTRALIAN
Pre and Post Referendum Policies and Indigenous Australian
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

PRE AND POST REFERENDUM POLICIES AND INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIAN1
Introduction
The debate around the Change the Date debate and the protest by the indigenous people
of Australia can be traced back to the history of the European civilization coming to Australian
land and settling which is celebrated as Australia Day. The day is celebrated across the country
as the day when the first Fleet of the British ships arrived at port Jackson under the governor
Arthur Phillip and the Flag of Great Britain was raised for the first time in the land. But, the
aborigines and the people who has a better understanding of the history understands the reason
behind the displeasure behind their protest against the date as it was the day which started the
displacement of the First peoples and the original people of the land. They could be expected to
be celebrating the day which began their loss of identity. The period of struggle for them saw no
curve for by 1900s their population was brought down to almost 90%, which originally was
around 750,000 when the first ship arrived. Since, then these people were counted as the others
in spite of being the original native of the country. Though history and narratives from the media
states otherwise, the referendum never lived up to the claims it made when it was introduced in
the parliament.
Discussion
The Referendum
The referendum of 1967, when it was first tabled for being passed in both the Houses, it
stood for hope and recognition for the aborigines but before the process could be brought to
realization, the death of then prime minister, Harold Holt crumbled it to the ground. Gary Foley
in his article about the Indigenous Australians traces the missing part of history which shows
how the three peopled Council and office of Aboriginal Affairs were first hired and brought
under the direct command of the Prime Minister’s office was later left disabled after the death of

PRE AND POST REFERENDUM POLICIES AND INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIAN2
holt. But the findings reveal that even during the time of Holt, the recruited members of the
councils were not so much as an expert on the issues of the Aborigines but were simply those
who affinity with the distressing plight (Foley, 2017). The referendum had another fatal flaw in it
because of the presence and the attention given to the second question which made it harder for
the Senators to pass the Bill. The second question was to increase the number of the seats in the
senate without changing the existing seat which was the focus of discussion and the matter of the
first question got lost with the death of Holt who had plans which was focused on changing the
prospective recognition of the aboriginals in the country (Moran, A. 2011).
The Plight of the People- Aborigines and Non-Aborigines
The referendum of 1967 was the law which was start the recognition of the aboriginals as
the citizen of Australia but the history shows the narrative that they were always involved in all
the wars fought from the Australian front from the Boer to Timor. They were employed by the
regiments as the guide for they knew the topography of the place better than anyone. It wasn’t
until the first half of the 20th century that they were not allowed to enlist themselves in the army.
Before that, when the country was celebrating the Federation day on January 1st, it was them who
was still fighting the Boer war, searching for the Boer commandoes and fighting with them (The
Conversation, 2014). Even after the non-Europeans were barred from enlisting in the army, they
managed to enlist themselves fighting for the country that failed to recognize them as their own.
In comparison it has been noted that back during the time of the First World War, they found it
easier to enlist as the feeling of prejudice on the basis of their skin color was not as prevalent in
the culture and the recruitment officers were only concerned with enlisting people who were
willing to put their lines on the line for the King and the country. But, during the Second World