Discussion paper response

Graeme Cordiner
What is your full name?
Graeme Cordiner
What is your postal code?
2111
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?
We need to have Treaty. Constitutional recognition is a step on that road.
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 beginning, in a preamble.
What should the statement say?
That Aboriginal people were here for so long, that they were dispossessed. That as the first peoples of Australia their contribution to modern Australia needs acknowledging.
Do you have any other comments on a statement about the First Peoples of Australia?
The path to our future as a nation passes through our past. The danger is Recognition can be used as a fullstop to Treaty. It needs to be framed as a step.
Should the word 'race' be taken out of the Constitution?
I don't know
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?
It can be paternalism. In making laws Aboriginal people need to be integral to the process.
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?
This applies to all Australians so does not necessarily have to go in a preamble.
Should the guarantee protect all Australians against racial discrimination, or only Indigenous Australians?
All Australians
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?
Representative of Aboriginal people across Australia
Do you have any other comments on this Indigenous group?
People who are recognised by Aboriginal people, not those prominent in mainstream media necessarily.
Should we delete section 25?
Yes
What would we achieve by getting rid of section 25?
No-one has that right.
Is there any point in keeping it?
No
Do you have any other comments?
Only Treaty can redress the past. Probably a national treaty that allows regional/ local treaties to be formed. Aboriginal Australians need to be seen as the cornerstone of Australian identity, their welcome to country our common belonging.
Are you making a submission on behalf of a person (such as yourself) or organisation?
Individual