The 1967 referendum was not quite what some think
“Yes won in the 1967 referendum, which gave Indigenous Australians citizenship and the right to be counted in the census.”
Not quite. Firstly, it certainly did not give “Indigenous Australians citizenship”. That had happened for all Australians with the Citizenship Act of 1949.
Secondly, Indigenous people were counted but were not included in the census figures used to determine federal electoral boundaries, because they mostly did not have the right to vote.
However by the time of the 1967 referendum, all Indigenous people had the right to vote and the anomaly had to be removed. To do the previous, the federal government also had to be given explicit powers to legislate regarding “Aborigines” which it did not have before.
At the time some people no doubt thought that were giving “equal rights” but that was not really the case. (The Australian Constitution is somewhat lacking in explicit “Rights”!)
Contributions to Pearls and Irritations
Your contribution will fund quality independent comment and analysis in Pearls and Irritations
Contribute
