Australia decides referendum question to create Black Voice

By ROD McGUIRK
Associated Press

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The Australian government has released the wording of a referendum question that promises Indigenous people a greater say on policies that affect their lives. Australians will vote later this year on whether they want to enshrine in the constitution an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Thursday that such a voice was needed to overcome Indigenous disadvantage. He said those disadvantages were not due to a lack of intent or funding but because the government had imposed policies without consulting Indigenous communities. Australia is unusual among former British colonies in that no treaty was ever signed with the nation’s Indigenous population. The constitution has never acknowledged the Indigenous population as Australia’s original inhabitants.