Reconciliation Australia and you

The people of Page are being invited to join a grassroots campaign to support the recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians in the Constitution.

In August last year the Federal Member for Page, Janelle Saffin hosted public consultations in Grafton and Lismore as a member of the panel appointed by the Prime Minister to advise the Government on how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people could be recognised in the Constitution.

Ms Saffin said it was clear from the views raised at the consultations that there was strong support from the local people who came along and their views were reflected in the panel’s report presented to the Prime Minister in January this year.

“At the local consultations held in Grafton and Lismore there was strong support expressed for constitutional recognition. There was debate about what goes in and overwhelming support to get rid of Section 25 (this says that if a State law disqualifies all the people of any race from voting in State elections, then those persons shall not be counted when working out how many seats each State gets in the House of Representatives).

“Some people started saying we want the Rolls Royce model- and I agree- but are happy to start with what we can all come to agreement on.

“Now we are taking the next step towards long-overdue constitutional change with the roll-out of a national community awareness and education campaign. The panel’s work was a great starting point but the next step is to harness the goodwill and sense of fairness of the Australian people to build the momentum for change,” Ms Saffin said.

Ms Saffin said Reconciliation Australia, the peak national organisation building and promoting reconciliation across the country, had been appointed to lead the national movement for change.

“The Reconciliation Australia campaign will build on the positive mood for change that was evident at the hundreds of meetings and consultations that panel members held across the country, including here in my seat of Page on the Northern Rivers. This support came from a range of organisations, community groups and individuals and now we are looking forward to working with them to see this through to a successful referendum.”

“We want people to spread the message on how important it is for a modern, forward-looking country like Australia to recognise the history, cultures, art and languages of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

“They can do this by talking about it to their families and friends, at school, at their workplaces, at their sporting clubs, community meetings and their churches. We need everyone to start thinking and talking about it.

“A good place to start is to visit the website www.youmeunity.org.au to find out more, show your support and see what others are saying about constitutional recognition,” Ms Saffin said.

For further information contact Lee Duncan 0448 158 150

Office of Janelle Saffin MP, Page Electorate, media release on 23 February 2012

So we're to have a national referendum sometime in the next three years....

Well this is bound to get interesting.
Prime Minister Gillard has just announced a long overdue national referendum on including formal recognition of Aboriginal first peoples in the Australian Constitution.
The trick's going to be how to keep the entire proposition from turning into a prolonged and painful train wreck.
Those sticky-fingered political power brokers need to be penned far away from consultations on any proposed wording of the question being put to the vote.
Because as sure as night follows day they will want to tack other questions onto the ballot paper, with the sole purpose of extending political party power over the federal parliament and the people.
Such a move would almost surely sink any hope of formal recognition.

It's begun. Liberals attempt to smear Australian Governor-General in hope that state governor will have to decide next federal government

Media Statement 23 August 2010

Click to enlarge

Saturday's federal election vote count was not even finished for the night when the first whispered attempts to discredit Australian Governor-General Quentin Bryce began in an effort to have her stand aside, presumably in favour of NSW Governor Marie Bashir (current holder of dormant commission as Administrator of the Commonwealth), in the event of a hung parliament being confirmed by the Australian Electoral Commission.

Though why the Coalition appears to believe that Governor Bashir would be more amenable to inviting Abbott to form a government is unclear at this point. Perhaps the ease with which she was spooked by tabloid newspaper The Daily Telegraph earlier this year has fostered some hope in Liberal breasts that she might cave under pressure.

While Tony Abbott is keeping his head below the parapet for now, yesterday the art of the sly smear was being practiced by Liberal Party donor and mining magnate Clive Palmer:

MINING magnate and government critic Clive Palmer has questioned the role of Governor-General Quentin Bryce in determining whether Julia Gillard or Tony Abbott is allowed to form a government.
Ms Bryce's daughter Chloe Bryce is married to ALP powerbroker Bill Shorten, who was instrumental in Ms Gillard toppling Kevin Rudd for the prime ministership.
''We need to make sure that the Governor-General is totally impartial,'' Mr Palmer told The Age. ''If the Governor-General finds she can't be impartial, she should stand down and they should get someone else to fulfil that role.''

In response to this and other speculation in the media Government House released this brief statement:

The Governor-General is seeking advice on concerns raised about her personal position in the current political circumstances.

It's almost a given that sometime in the next three weeks Abbott will be at the Court of Disputed Returns and the Federal Court trying to claw back as many seats as he can in order to form government in his own right; but what is also highly probable is that should either Bryce or Bashir issue that all important invitation to Julia Gillard instead of to him, Abbott will go straight to the High Court asking that the decision be overturned and then a constitutional crisis really will be upon us all.

It wouldn't surprise me if Abbott is rather relying on a national cringe at the thought of a prolonged Coalition dummy spit of this kind (argumented by motions of no confidence and 2008-style disruptive antics in the House once Parliament begins another term) when he argues that the return of a Gillard Government would destabilize the political landscape.