Essential poll: majority of Australians want Indigenous recognition and voice to parliament

Australian voters are positive about recognising Indigenous Australians in the constitution and establishing a voice to parliament, according to polling by Essential. A majority also supports a treaty with Indigenous Australians, according to research undertaken late last month to coincide with Naidoc week.

A strong majority of a sample of 1,097 respondents (70%) supports constitutional recognition, with 33% of that cohort of the view that achieving the change is a priority while 37% support the change but don’t nominate it as a high priority. A further 18% say they don’t support that change and 12% say they aren’t sure.

There was majority support for recognition across partisan lines, with 52% of Coalition voters in favour, 68% of Labor voters, 75% of Green voters, and 50% of the voters indicating they vote for someone other than the major parties. Support and opposition to recognition has remained relatively constant in Essential’s research since 2014.


https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jul/12/essential-poll-majority-of-australians-want-indigenous-recognition-and-voice-to-parliament

A referendum was passed in 1967 that recognised Aborigines as citizens for census purposes (where they were counted separately previously..) and gave the Federal parliament responsibilty over Aboriginal affairs, welfare, heritage, etc. (areas that were often previously covered by state and territory governments..).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_Australian_referendum_(Aboriginals)

A lot of people would have reasonably expected that such issues as Constitutional recognition, a 'treaty' between Aborigines and the government, and a voice within the Oz parliament,  would have also eventually been addressed following on from that referendum..

Such was not the case, and various conservative elements --  especially within the Liberal and National parties -- have been strongly opposing these changes since the early 1970s.

As seen in this poll, momentum has been building for these changes --  what needs to happen now is that a properly-worded referendum is put forward, and that those conservative factions aren't allowed to cripple the results, or defeat the ref' through excessive scaremongering and deflection..