Australian PM tries to soothe fears over Indigenous rights vote

SYDNEY: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Sunday kicked off a last-ditch bid to convince sceptical voters to back a referendum on Indigenous rights, telling them they had “nothing to fear”.

Next weekend´s referendum will decide whether to recognise Indigenous Australians in the constitution for the first time, a historic proposal that would also give First Nations peoples a greater say in national policy making to help address entrenched inequalities.

But with less than a week to go, polls indicate the so-called “Indigenous Voice to Parliament” is likely to fail.

The debate has stirred uncertainty about the reform´s scope and impact and has also stoked racial tensions. “This should be above politics,” Albanese said on Sunday, as he embarked on a nationwide sprint that will take him through major cities, outback mining towns, and remote Aboriginal settlements.

“There is absolutely nothing to fear from this proposal.”

Aboriginal Australians settled the continent around 60,000 years ago and are today celebrated as one of the world´s oldest continuous cultures.

But more than 200 years since British colonisation, Australia´s Indigenous peoples have shorter life spans, higher disease burdens, and are far more likely to die in prison.

Albanese said Australia stood alone among former British colonies by failing to recognise its first inhabitants within the constitution.

“This is our time. This is the change that Australia deserves,” he said.