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A consequence of the referendum (I used the word "census in my earlier post, incorrectly) was the that the aboriginal people gained the right to vote, among oth

by foobar1962 5y ago

A consequence of the referendum (I used the word "census in my earlier post, incorrectly) was the that the aboriginal people gained the right to vote, among other significant rights (welfare, etc). Until then they were not considered "Australians" at all.

yesenadam 5y ago
"It is frequently stated that the 1967 referendum gave Aboriginal people Australian citizenship and that it gave them the right to vote in federal elections; however this is not the case."[0] "It was some five years before any real change occurred as a result of the referendum"—change thanks to Whitlam in 1972, I suppose. It seems aborigines had the right to vote since at least 1962: "The Commonwealth Electoral Act 1962 received assent on 21 May 1962. It granted all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people the option to enrol and vote in federal elections."[1] But the history goes much further back: "In the 1850s under the constitutions of Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia, Aboriginal men had the same right to vote as other male British subjects aged over 21. ... In 1895 South Australia became the first electorate in the world to give equal political rights to both women and men. Aboriginal women shared these rights. However, laws specifically intended to deny the vote to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were enacted by Queensland (1885), Western Australia (1893) and the Northern Territory (1922). The first federal electoral Act, the Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902, granted men and women of all states the right to vote. Indigenous people were excluded from this right unless they already had the right to vote before 1901. ... In March 1949 Prime Minister Ben Chifley introduced an amendment to the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918. This extended the right to vote in federal elections to any Indigenous person who had been a member of the defence forces."[1] [0] What the referendum did not do: Give voting rights https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_Australian_referendum_(Aboriginals)#Give_voting_rights https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_Australian_referendum_(Ab... [1] https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/indigenous-australians-right-to-vote https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/indigenous...

yesenadam 5y ago

"It is frequently stated that the 1967 referendum gave Aboriginal people Australian citizenship and that it gave them the right to vote in federal elections; however this is not the case."[0] "It was some five years before any real change occurred as a result of the referendum"—change thanks to Whitlam in 1972, I suppose. It seems aborigines had the right to vote since at least 1962: "The Commonwealth Electoral Act 1962 received assent on 21 May 1962. It granted all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people the option to enrol and vote in federal elections."[1] But the history goes much further back: "In the 1850s under the constitutions of Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia, Aboriginal men had the same right to vote as other male British subjects aged over 21. ... In 1895 South Australia became the first electorate in the world to give equal political rights to both women and men. Aboriginal women shared these rights. However, laws specifically intended to deny the vote to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were enacted by Queensland (1885), Western Australia (1893) and the Northern Territory (1922). The first federal electoral Act, the Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902, granted men and women of all states the right to vote. Indigenous people were excluded from this right unless they already had the right to vote before 1901. ... In March 1949 Prime Minister Ben Chifley introduced an amendment to the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918. This extended the right to vote in federal elections to any Indigenous person who had been a member of the defence forces."[1] [0] What the referendum did not do: Give voting rights https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_Australian_referendum_(Aboriginals)#Give_voting_rights https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967_Australian_referendum_(Ab... [1] https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/indigenous-australians-right-to-vote https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/indigenous...