In a public and formal sense, Indigenous recognition in the Constitution has come to a sudden – but not unexpected – grinding halt. Ken Wyatt, Minister for Indigenous Australians, announces at the annual Lingiari lecture in Darwin on 16 August that the Government will not be putting a question on a constitutionally enshrined Voice to Parliament – as sought by Indigenous people – to referendum. This clearly signals that the Government intends to put recognition Coalition style to the vote promised within three years with a general recognition statement in the preamble or as a standalone clause. Work will continue behind the scenes but it is going to be an uphill battle to achieve the modest proposals that Indigenous people now support. Republican campaigners urge them to stick to their guns and not resile even if it’s a long and hard-fought battle, already 231 years in the making. This is, additionally, not an encouraging development for the inevitable Republic vote. [“Ken Wyatt under fire for ruling out Indigenous voice referendum question” by Lorena Allam, The Guardian online, 19 August 2019]
Woman for an Australian Republic, Adelaide Ironside, republican poet and artist 1831-1867
Self portrait 1855, Newcastle Art Gallery NSW
