Confluence of the Rivers: Constitutional Recognition of Australia’s First Peoples

Abstract

Australia has progressed rapidly from a collection of British Colonies to an advanced first world economy with an enviable democratic system of governance. However, despite embracing modernity and supporting peace and justice initiatives elsewhere, Australia has struggled to come to terms with its own First Peoples. The Colonial story begins with English ‘settler’ claims to have settled an empty land in the late 1700s. The nation has, however, made progress in this area. It acknowledged that the common law recognised that Australia was indeed populated by civilised peoples, possessing a civilisation stretching back 60,000 years or more, when the British Crown first claimed sovereignty over the Continent. This is not however, the end of the story. There are still many milestones to be reached and passed. The next of these milestones, now that the law recognises its First People, is for Australia to recognise Indigenous People in its Constitution . This chapter will briefly examine the history of Indigenous recognition in Australia, including an analysis of the barriers and challenges to such recognition. The chapter concludes that such recognition is imperative if Australia wants to promote peace and to hold its head up high in among the States of the International Community. Today, the two rivers, black and white, run separately and unequally; perhaps tomorrow their waters will be equal and one.

Dr. Asmi Wood LLB (Hons.) is a senior lecturer at the College of Law, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia; Email: asmi.wood@anu.edu.au. He is a practising barrister and solicitor. His research interests include Indigenous legal and spiritual issues, law and religion. He is a member of the National Indigenous Research and Knowledges Network (NIRAKN) funded by the Australian Research Council.