The Aboriginals Referendum
By: Anna • Essay • 283 Words • March 10, 2010 • 852 Views
The Aboriginals Referendum
The Aboriginals Referendum
The referendum of 27 May 1967 approved two amendments to the Australian constitution relating to Indigenous Australians. Technically it was a vote on the Constitution Alteration (Aboriginals) 1967, which after being approved in the referendum became law on the 10th August of the same year.
For Against
Votes %90.77 %9.23
States 6 0
The amendment was overwhelmingly endorsed, winning over 90 per cent of voters and carrying all six states. The referendum removed two sections from the Constitution. The first was a phrase in Section 51 (xxvi) which stated that the Federal Government had the power to make laws with respect to "the people of any race, other than the Aboriginal race in any State, for whom it is deemed necessary to make special laws." (This is known as the "race power.") The referendum removed the phrase "other than the Aboriginal race in any State," giving the Commonwealth the power to make laws specifically to benefit Aboriginal people.
The second was Section