The proposal for a Voice to Parliament was Australia’s first attempt to add Indigenous recognition to the constitution. The result was a resounding failure.
- Professor Emerita, Sydney Law School, University of Sydney
At the heart of the current controversy is that the senators were either ignorant of their second nationality or believed themselves to have lost it.
Multiple concerns have been raised about the citizenship-stripping bill’s inattention to human rights, its differential impact upon dual and sole nationals, and its potential application to persons who commit relatively minor crimes.
Whatever we think of the family of foreign fighter Khaled Sharrouf or their circumstances, they enjoy the right to return on the same footing as every other Australian citizen.
A defeat for Indigenous constitutional recognition would be disastrous and demoralising. But history tells us that even worthy proposals with bipartisan support are not assured of success.
Australia lacks a national bill of rights and the many attempts over the years to adopt one have failed. But Australia already has a raft of human rights laws, including many anti-discrimination acts…
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