What is your full name?
Angela Fyfe
What is your postal code?
4285
Do you support recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples by changing the Constitution or making some other kind of legal change?
Yes
What should the change look like?
Admission that this country was inhabited by the first nations people of Australia.
Should we have a statement that acknowledges the First Peoples of Australia?
Yes. This should be in the Constitution.
Where is the best place to put it?
A preamble .
What should the statement say?
Acknowledge that the Australian Aboriginal nations were here and occupied the entire Continent and surrounding islands.
Should the word 'race' be taken out of the Constitution?
Yes
Should the Australian Parliament keep the power to make special laws for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples?
Yes
Do you have any ideas on what new words could be used to describe that power, or where in the Constitution to put the power?
No to both questions but I do think the Commonwealth needs to retain the power to make special laws in order to maintain a cohesive approach to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders across the whole nation.
Do you have any other comments on powers to make laws for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples?
See above comment.
Do you think that a guarantee against racial discrimination should go into the Constitution?
Yes
Should the guarantee protect all Australians against racial discrimination, or only Indigenous Australians?
All Australians
If there is not enough support for a guarantee in the Constitution, what other things can we do to stop racial discrimination in national laws?
Develop and legislate a Bill of Rights for all Australians
Do you have any other comments on changing the Constitution to stop racial discrimination?
There has to be a united non-partisan approach and a national discussion regarding the changes and an emphasis on the inclusiveness of Australian society for all Australian regardless of race, gender, ethnicity or creed/beliefs.
Do you think Indigenous people should have a say when Parliament and government make laws and policies about Indigenous affairs?
Yes
Should a new Indigenous group be set up under the Constitution to give advice and make sure Indigenous people have a voice in political decisions that affect them?
I don't know
Do you have any other comments on this Indigenous group?
Perhaps we should adopt the approach NZ has in regard to their indigenous people and have seats allocated to them in our national parliament.
Should we delete section 25?
Yes
What would we achieve by getting rid of section 25?
modernising the Constitution in line with modern thinking.
Is there any point in keeping it?
none that I can think of.
Do you have any other comments?
As the Constitution was written over 100 years ago maybe this is an opportunity to modernize other sections as well. All Australians should have a greater understanding of our Constitution. Most of us have little idea of what it actually contains.
Are you making a submission on behalf of a person (such as yourself) or organisation?
Individual