Tony Abbott has recommitted himself to “correcting the great silence” in Australia’s constitution – but has asked Indigenous leaders to focus on a form of changes that are achievable.
The prime minister will join the opposition leader, Bill Shorten, in hosting 40 Indigenous leaders at a meeting at Kirribilli House in Sydney on Monday as part of the effort towards updating the nation’s founding document.
Advocates are not expecting the meeting to resolve the form of words to be put to voters at a referendum, but they are hopeful of charting a way forward.
The summit comes as an Ipsos Fairfax poll released on Monday shows
record high approval for recognition. 85% of those surveyed support
the recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders in
Australia’s founding document, up from 77% in 2013.
Just over one in ten - 11% - of Australians oppose the move.
Abbott said the “quite unusual” occurrence of having an event at the prime minister’s Sydney residence hosted by both major party leaders showed their commitment to recognising Indigenous people in the constitution.
“Our task – our mission if you like – is to correct the great silence in our constitution,” he said at a reception for the attendees on the eve of the meeting.
“Not everyone is as passionate as we are, not everyone is as informed as we are and our challenge over coming months is to more broadly and more deeply engage the whole of the Australian community in this task.”
Abbott, who faces resistance on the issue from some conservative backbenchers and from commentators such as Andrew Bolt, hinted at a desire to proceed with a modest proposal rather than a far-reaching one that might be defeated in a referendum.
Fairfax Media’s latest Ipsos national poll suggested 85% of voters supported recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as the first inhabitants of Australia in the constitution, while 11% were opposed.
“In the end, what we want to do is uniquely for the Indigenous people of Australia, but the constitution of our country does belong to all of the people of Australia,” the prime minister said.
“So what we bring forward has to be something that can be owned ultimately by the vast majority of the people of our country. Yes, it has to be worth doing – it has to be worth doing – but it has to be doable.
“The challenge for us, I suppose, over the next 24 hours particularly, but over the months and however long it takes to get this done to come, is not necessarily to do the best that each one of us thinks should be done but to do the best that each one of us thinks can be done. That’s the challenge.”
Abbott added: “I am absolutely convinced that we can and must and will find a way forward.”
Shorten struck a different tone from Abbott by urging participants not to “lower our sights” and emphasising that the proposed change should be meaningful.
The opposition leader said he did not “subscribe to the smaller target path of meaningless change”.
“I believe Australians are big enough, smart enough and generous enough to vote for genuine, real change. Cosmetic tinkering with the preamble is insufficient,” Shorten said in a statement.
“Together, we can tackle the discrimination that lurks in our constitution, the ‘race powers’ that speak for an Australia long vanished.
“Together, we can make the recognition moment as uplifting as the apology, as honest as Redfern and as unstoppable as the sand pouring into Vincent Lingiari’s hand, and together, we can make recognition more than redress for past wrongs.”
“True recognition cannot stand merely as an acknowledgement of historical injustice – it must be a declaration of intent, a promise of meaningful improvements.”
Tanya Hosch, who is the joint campaign director of the Recognise movement and will be one of the leaders attending at the event, pointed to the “rare and historic nature of the gathering”.
“No one should expect this meeting to pull a rabbit or perfect ‘model’ out of its collective hat, but it can set the stage and the course for achieving that ultimate goal,” she said.
“I trust that we all come to these talks in the spirit of cooperation, leadership and mindful of our responsibility to millions of Australians to find a way through so that they have their chance to vote in a Recognise referendum as soon as possible.”
Abbott announced on Sunday that he would spend a week with communities in the Torres Strait Islands and Northern Peninsula Area in August. The prime minister said he would be accompanied by a several ministerial colleagues and senior government officials.
