City of Belmont - Ruth Faulkner Public Library

The 1967 referendum, race, power and the Australian Constitution, Bain Attwood and Andrew Markus

Includes bibliographical references and index

The 1967 referendum

144226443

Bain Attwood and Andrew Markus

race, power and the Australian Constitution

On 27 May 1967 an overwhelming majority of electors voted in a national referendum to amend clauses of the Australian Constitution concerning Aboriginal people. 27 May 2007 is the 40th anniversary of this landmark event. The referendum is commonly considered the turning point in Australian historical and cultural life. The historic moment when citizenship rights were granted ? including the vote ? and the Commonwealth finally assumed responsibility for Aboriginal affairs. This book explores the legal and political significance of the referendum and the long struggle by Australians for constitutional change

Machine derived contents note: Acknowledgments iv -- Abbreviations v -- Preface vi -- 1 The Constitution and the Power of Race 1 -- 2 The Commonwealth and Aboriginal Affairs 6 -- 3 The Federal Council for Aboriginal Advancement 14 -- and Constitutional Change -- 4 The 1962-3 Petition Campaign 27 -- 5 The Coalition Government and the Demand for 35 -- a Referendum -- 6 The Campaign for the 'Yes' Vote 44 -- 7 The Poll and its Consequences 54 -- 8 Remembering and Forgetting the Referendum 65 -- 9 Reconciliation and Constitutional Change 71 -- 10 Race, Rights and the Constitution 76 -- Documents 87 -- Part I. Written Sources 89 -- Part I. Aboriginal Oral Sources 158 -- Part II. Contemporary Aboriginal Perspectives 167 -- Notes 170

Nineteen sixty seven referendum