A referendum on recognizing Aboriginal people as the first people on the continent and ensuring their right to vote in Parliament will be held in Australia in the second half of this year, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Friday.

Australians will vote in a referendum on the constitutional recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander First Nations “in the second half of this year,” he said.

“According to the current law, we must first adopt a law on holding a referendum, and this is planned for the first session of parliament in 2023. Then a bill to amend the constitution will be drafted, which also needs to be approved by the two houses of parliament. After that, a vote will be held in three to six months,” Albanese told reporters.

As the Prime Minister of Australia explained, if the government’s proposed amendments to the country’s constitution are approved by vote, representatives of indigenous peoples will not only receive recognition, but also the opportunity to create a kind of deliberative body in Parliament. “This structure will not have the right to veto, will not be able to manage government programs and projects, and will not have access to funding. Only recognition and consultation is what we are talking about,” Mr. Albanese stressed.

The prime minister also noted that the working group on referendum issues, established at the end of last year, “will soon provide additional information on the proposed changes to the constitution” and will publish all the necessary explanations.

Source: TASS