What is your full name?
Michael Thomas Leahy
What is your postal code?
3226
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?
I suspect that the campaign has so far favoured a minimalist position too much. If a referendum for reform were to fail because it favoured a maximalist position, this would not be so much a failure of politics as one of recognition and acceptance by the
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?
In the body where is has a binding effect, not in the Preamble.
What should the statement say?
It should acknowledge the illegitimacy of the manner in which Britain seized this land, and the injustices thus inflicted on its original rulers and owners. It should embody a Treaty or Treaties with the descendents of those peoples, according them a prop
Do you have any other comments on a statement about the First Peoples of Australia?
It should be worded as a positive step for justice in this land, and a necessary basis for reconciliation as a united nation.
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?
Yes
Do you have any ideas on what new words could be used to describe that power, or where in the Constitution to put the power?
The Constitution should delete all reference to this unscientific and socially pernicious concept of race and preserve the power to make special laws for the benefit of our Indigenous Peoples by referring to them as peoples.
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?
Perhaps S. 51 could say 'No government in the Commonwealth shall have the power to discriminate on the basis of "race", but governments shall have the power to make laws for the good governance etc. of the First Peoples of the land provided only that thos
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?
If the concept of race is no longer recognised in the Constitution, laws that discriminated on the basis of race would be unconstitutional.
Do you have any other comments on changing the Constitution to stop racial discrimination?
Perhaps the preamble could include a statement of commitment to the equality of all people because of their common humanity alone.
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?
See earlier response
Should we delete section 25?
Yes
What would we achieve by getting rid of section 25?
Removing a relic of unscientific 19th century concept of race
Is there any point in keeping it?
No
Are you making a submission on behalf of a person (such as yourself) or organisation?
Individual