Indigenous referendum: Australians invited to join community conferences on recognition vote

Sydney : Prime Minister Tony Abbott says people will be invited to have their say on constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians in a series of community conferences starting later this year. Mr Abbott and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten hosted a joint summit with about 40 of the nation’s most influential Indigenous representatives at Kirribilli House in Sydney today.Speaking after the meeting, Mr Abbott said the talks on the wording of the possible referendum were collegiate.
He said community consultation was the next step. “What I think we’ve done today is laid out a process which will enable all Australians to have a deeper better informed and much more structured conversation about what this constitutional change could look like,” he said.Mr Abbott said the community conferences would address some of the issues that divided participants in today’s summit, like the push for the constitution to include a racial discrimination clause.
“I am confident that the time is right, I think that there is an abundance of goodwill, I think that we are good enough, big enough and brave enough to do this, but it is important that we get it right and that’s what today’s process is all about,” he said.
Mr Abbott said he hoped the wording of the referendum would be finalised by the middle of next year, with a vote in 2017.
Mr Shorten said the summit had maintained the momentum towards a vital change.”I think at the heart of what was spoken about today, is a recognition that if this nation is to move forward, we need a constitution which recognises all Australians and doesn’t exclude our first Australians,” he said.There is currently no mention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the constitution, and no recognition they were the first Australians.