What is your full name?
Luke Zaphir
What is your postal code?
4107
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?
There should be a provision to require that there is a minimum quota of Aboriginal representatives in parliament.
Should we have a statement that acknowledges the First Peoples of Australia?
Yes. This should be in the Constitution.
What should the statement say?
The Aboriginal peoples of Australia belong here, in this place, and hold a treasured place in our shared culture and heritage.
Do you have any other comments on a statement about the First Peoples of Australia?
Recognising harm or genocide in the statement would be a bad idea - the reconciliation of all Australians requires a willingness to move forward. The recognition of harm is a good idea in parliament, in policy etc but the constitution should not be the pl
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?
The Aborginal peoples are not monolithic. Each specific policy issue requires pragmatic deliberation, not a heavy-handed top-down approach to "the Aboriginal peoples". Look at each community, at schools, and make laws to help the problems. Singling them o
Do you think that a guarantee against racial discrimination should go into the Constitution?
No
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?
Write and gain support bills in specific areas, such as hiring laws
Do you have any other comments on changing the Constitution to stop racial discrimination?
Racial laws belong in common law, not the Constitution. Racial discrimination is a cultural problem, and this needs to be met with the vocal support of our elected officials, not an abstract document like the Constitution.
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?
A randomly selected group of volunteers from different communities with direct access to law-makers.
Do you have any other comments on this Indigenous group?
It is essential that this group have direct access to representatives. If we aren't going to give them any explicit powers, it is important that they have greater access to the decision-makers due to their fundamentally different issues to other Australia
Should we delete section 25?
Yes
What would we achieve by getting rid of section 25?
We remove an element of systemic racism from the Constitution
Is there any point in keeping it?
We can retain systemic racism in the Constitution.
Do you have any other comments?
It's incredibly demeaning and a type of cultural imperialism to even contemplate banning people from voting on the basis of race. The mere thought of it implies that the banned race is less than other races.
Are you making a submission on behalf of a person (such as yourself) or organisation?
Individual