Australia sets date for historic indigenous rights referendum - on New Zealand election day

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced Australia will hold a historic Indigenous rights referendum on October 14. Photo / Getty

October 14 - the same day as the New Zealand election - is the date for a critical referendum to amend the Australian constitution and give a say in the political process to the nation’s indigenous population.

“October 14 is our time...it’s our chance,” said Prime Minister Albanese.

“For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people this has been a marathon. For all of us, it is now a sprint.”

The six-week campaign ahead of the vote will focus on whether to create a “Voice to Parliament”, an Indigenous advisory committee for matters before the federal government in Canberra.

Australian PM Anthony Albanese and PM Chris Hipkins during a street walk and visit in Wellington. Photo / Mark Coote

Australia has been considered slow to address its relationship with tāngata whenua, who make up about 3.2 per cent of its nearly 26 million citizens, having inhabited the land for over 65,000 years.

While Australia has no treaty with its aboriginal people, last year NZ Treaty Minister Andrew Little toured Australia’s parliaments and met indigenous leaders to discuss our approach.

Public opinion divided

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders underperform in most socio-economic measures, a pattern linked to colonisation and racial discrimination.

Pat Anderson, co-leader of the “yes” campaign, said the majority of Aboriginal people supported the Voice because it will “improve our peoples’ lives”. However, public opinion is divided, with recent polls showing waning support.

The conservative opposition Liberal Party plans to campaign against the change. Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, Liberal leader for Indigenous Affairs, called the proposal divisive.

“It is that old rule of divide and conquer that I can’t stand for,” she said.

Yet, former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull supports it.

“The Voice delivers recognition and respect to Indigenous Australians in the manner they have sought,” he said in an opinion piece in the Sydney Morning Herald on Wednesday.

“On October 14, together we can bend the arc of history a little further towards justice by voting YES.”

For the referendum to pass, it needs majority support nationwide and in at least four of six states.

Only eight of 44 past referendums have succeeded.