Over recents decades, there has been many millions of dollars spent by the Australian government and other Australian institutions on various plans to integrate Aboriginal people into the constitution of Australia.
As stated in the 2017 Referendum Council Final report, which came from the largest consultative process of Aboriginal people ever conducted:
All Dialogues asserted the fact that Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples never ceded their sovereignty. For this reason, delegates were not persuaded of the benefit of acknowledgement inside the Constitution.
Despite this, in this year 2023 under the latest scheme, there is a planned referendum to modify the Australian Constitution Act by adding a new section to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the constitution.
The consultation process in 2017 was directly funded by the Australian government and facilitated by people chosen by the Australian government. The options put on the table were all geared towards the government priority of recognition in the constitution. It was not about the priorities of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.
There was no option for the delegates to say 'no'.
Many Aboriginal people still hold concerns about the effect these reforms will have on their sovereignty. While we have been reassured the reforms will not diminish nor cede sovereignty, there has been little to no explanation on how the reforms will affect Aboriginal sovereignty.
Given the lack of this crucial information and the well-founded lack of distrust in proposals put forward by the government, we will continue to stand against constitutional integration.