What is your full name?
Anonymous
What is your postal code?
2502
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?
Any change should take into account that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples were here *first*, before any other people came. They need to be acknowledged as the first peoples of Australia.
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?
I don't know
What should the statement say?
I don't know, it mainly needs to acknowledge that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples *are* our first peoples, and probably should also include that these peoples need to be consulted if changes are going to take place on lands that were theirs.
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?
I don't know
Do you have any other comments on powers to make laws for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples?
My concern about Parliament making laws for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is that they are not well represented in Parliament, therefore laws are made about the peoples without them having a say in them. It is highly likely that reparation
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?
No
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?
Have a firm and clear racial discrimination Act which includes sections on vilification, for example
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?
I don't know
Do you have any ideas about what the new group would look like?
The new group needs to have many representatives, and be given time to work out how it would like to organise itself
Do you have any other comments on this Indigenous group?
Any group like this would be starting with a heavy handicap to work against, for example, 200+ years of invasion and the resultant dislocation, language loss etc, as well as a large non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander majority population & Parliamen
Should we delete section 25?
Yes
What would we achieve by getting rid of section 25?
Race is an incredibly outdated term or category. Increasingly DNA tests are showing how people with a Europeans are very mixed.
Is there any point in keeping it?
No
Do you have any other comments?
We have to ensure that we acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples not via a race category, but by culture, connections to the land and to other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Are you making a submission on behalf of a person (such as yourself) or organisation?
Individual