What is your full name?
Claire Lydia Stewart
What is your postal code?
None
Do you support recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples by changing the Constitution or making some other kind of legal change?
Yes
What should the change look like?
The English stole their land to set up a penal colony, to have the manpower to survey the land for resources, so the nonsense about Terra Nullius must be removed, and a full acknowledgement of the truth put in.
Should we have a statement that acknowledges the First Peoples of Australia?
Yes. This should be in the Constitution.
Where is the best place to put it?
At the very beginning.
What should the statement say?
First Nation people should be consulted on this, it's not for me to say.
Do you have any other comments on a statement about the First Peoples of Australia?
'Australia's' true collective history should be fully and clearly recounted, to include the invasion, massacres and ongoing socially engineered genocide of the first people, and an acknowledgement of the ongoing systemic racism these people face on a dail
Should the word 'race' be taken out of the Constitution?
Yes
Should the Australian Parliament keep the power to make special laws for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples?
No
Do you have any other comments on powers to make laws for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples?
Let's be clear about what the terminology 'special law' means in this context - the willful oppression and/or discrimination of a particular group, in order to service the will of the oppressor.
Do you think that a guarantee against racial discrimination should go into the Constitution?
Yes
Do you have any ideas about what words to use for that guarantee, or where in the Constitution to put it?
It would be nice to think words could provide a guarantee, but it's not that simple is it? To suggest a written document could provide one is naive at best. How the Constitution has any baring on current laws related to Land Rights or the myriad of social
Should the guarantee protect all Australians against racial discrimination, or only Indigenous Australians?
All Australians
If there is not enough support for a guarantee in the Constitution, what other things can we do to stop racial discrimination in national laws?
Land Rights, education, employment, healthcare and housing all need revision.
Do you have any other comments on changing the Constitution to stop racial discrimination?
Engage some young Indigenous people to go through it with you
Do you think Indigenous people should have a say when Parliament and government make laws and policies about Indigenous affairs?
Yes
Should a new Indigenous group be set up under the Constitution to give advice and make sure Indigenous people have a voice in political decisions that affect them?
Yes
Is it worth creating the new group if it can only give advice and does not have the power to block new laws?
Yes
Do you have any ideas about what the new group would look like?
again this is for Indigenous people to say
Do you have any other comments on this Indigenous group?
I'd suggest a good mix of age, gender and political leanings
Should we delete section 25?
Yes
What would we achieve by getting rid of section 25?
If we say we are a democracy, we should at least hold the central tenets of one
Do you have any other comments?
We have a long way to go
Are you making a submission on behalf of a person (such as yourself) or organisation?
Individual