CANBERRA, Australia (AP) 鈥 Australians will vote on Oct. 14 on a proposed law to create a so-called Indigenous Voice to Parliament in the nation鈥檚 first referendum in a generation.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday announced the referendum date, triggering just over six weeks of intensifying campaigning by both sides of the argument.
The referendum would enshrine in the constitution an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, a collection of advocates aimed at giving the nation鈥檚 most disadvantaged ethnic minority more say on government policy.
Albanese urged people to vote 鈥測es鈥 as polls showed more than 80% of Australia's Indigenous population - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples - intended to do so.
鈥淟et鈥檚 be very clear about the alternative: because voting 鈥榥o鈥 leads nowhere. It means nothing changes,鈥 Albanese told 400 Voice supporters in the city of Adelaide.
鈥淰oting 鈥榥o鈥 closes the door on this opportunity to move forward. I say today, don鈥檛 close the door on constitutional recognition, don鈥檛 close the door on listening to communities to get better results. Don鈥檛 close the door on an idea that came from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people themselves, and don鈥檛 close the door on the next generation of Indigenous Australians. Vote 鈥榶es,鈥欌 Albanese added.
Australia has not held a referendum since 1999 and a referendum has not passed since 1977.
No referendum has ever passed without bipartisan support and the major parties remain divided over the Voice.
Proponents argue that giving Indigenous people a say in policies that effect their lives would lead to less disadvantage.
Indigenous Australians account for 3.8% of population and they die around eight years younger than Australia鈥檚 wider population.
Megan Davis, an Indigenous lawyer who helped craft the Voice proposal, said Outback Indigenous residents should not have move to the national capital Canberra to 鈥渉ave a say in the laws and policies made about their lives.鈥
鈥淏est practice globally tells us that human beings are more likely to flourish if they have control over their lives,鈥 Davis told the same audience as Albanese. 鈥淭o dream, to have vision, to plan: this is what the Voice is about. It permits our people to have a seat at the table.鈥
Proponents say there would be no Indigenous right of veto over government policy and lawmakers would be free to disregard the Voice鈥檚 representations.
But opponents argue the courts might interpret the Voice鈥檚 constitutional powers in unpredictable ways, creating legal uncertainty. They also say the Voice would be the biggest ever change in Australia鈥檚 democracy that would divide the nation along racial lines.
鈥淚t is evident to me that this elite proposal is about division in our country. And it is that old rule of divide and conquer that I can鈥檛 stand for,鈥 Indigenous opposition Sen. Jacinta Nampijinpa Price told reporters.
鈥淚鈥檓 not going to allow a line to run straight through the middle of my family within our constitution,鈥 Price added, referring to her mixed-race heritage.
Albanese has long maintained his confidence that the referendum would succeed despite opinion polls showing that the marginal majority support for the Voice has waned in recent months as the public debate has become more heated and divisive.
Indigenous businessman Warren Mundine, a vocal Indigenous anti-Voice campaigner, recently revealed that the personal abuse he had received over his stance had left him with suicidal thoughts.
鈥淓veryone knows the pressure that was put on me to send me almost to suicidal positions and this is what this prime minister has done,鈥 Mundine told reporters.
鈥淭his prime minister from day one had attacked people who had a different opinion to him, called them names and that opened up the floor for the whole division to start, with all the horrible racial abuse, with all the horrible bigotry that鈥檚 been going on out there and it鈥檚 all Albo. He鈥檚 the one who started this,鈥 said Mundine, referring to the prime minister by his nickname.
Voice proponents complain that social media companies have not done enough to exclude racial abuse from the argument.
Opponents including opposition leader Peter Dutton, Australia鈥檚 alternative prime minister, argue the system is stacked in favor of the 鈥測es鈥 vote.
鈥淛ust make it a fair process instead of trying to load the system and trying to skew it in favor of the 鈥榶es鈥 vote,鈥 Dutton said.
The system requires voters to write 鈥測es鈥 or 鈥渘o鈥 on their ballot. But the Australian Electoral Commission, which runs federal elections and referendums, has said it will accept a tick as an affirmative vote, but a cross would be an invalid vote.
Opponents of the Voice want crosses to be added to the 鈥渘o鈥 tally.
Voice advocates accuse Dutton of attempting to undermine faith in the voting system.
The commission said the ruling that a cross would be open to interpretation and therefore invalid had been unchanged since 1988. The proportion of invalid votes, including those marked with crosses, at the last referendum was only 0.86% of the ballots cast, the commission said.
Most observers agree that the referendum result is unlikely to turn on the tiny proportion of ballots marked with crosses.
Opponents also accuse the government of failing to provide sufficient detail about who will be part of the Voice and how it will work.
鈥淚f you don鈥檛 know, vote 鈥榥o,鈥欌 No campaigners urge uncertain voters.
While some opponents argue the Voice proposal is too radical, others argue that it is not radical enough.
Independent Indigenous Sen. Lidia Thorpe told the 香港六合彩挂牌资料 Press Club this month that the Voice would be a 鈥減owerless advisory body鈥 that insulted the intelligence of Indigenous Australians.
She urged Albanese to call off the referendum, saying its failure would expose Australia as a racist country.
Albanese agreed that the result of the referendum would effect international perceptions of Australia.
鈥淚t鈥檚 ... about how Australians see ourselves, but also how the world sees Australia,鈥 Albanese said in April.
