Comment: As Migrant Tales bloggers know, Australia is one of the three countries that have multiculturalism as an official social policy. The other two countries are Canada and United Kingdom.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced that constitutional amendments could be put to the Australian people in a referendum that finally recognizes Aborigines as the country’s original inhabitants. Constitutional reform plans to strike off the last clauses of state-sanctioned racial discrimination.
Writes the guardian.co.uk: “Section 25 of the constitution recognises that states can disqualify people, such as Aborigines, from voting. Section 51 says federal parliament can make laws based upon a person’s race. Both were put in the constitution in 1901 to prevent certain races from living in areas reserved for white people or from taking up certain occupations.”
Gillard said that “we are big enough and it is the right time” to say yes to accepting our understanding of Australia’s past and constitutional reform. She said that such actions would foster a more united and reconciled Australia than ever before.
Do you agree with Australia’s constitutional reform? Should Finland take similar steps to reconcile relations with ethnic groups like the Saami and Romany minority?
*Thank you JusticeDemon for the heads up!
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Alison Rourke
Australia is poised to make historic changes to its constitution, recognising Aborigines as the country’s original inhabitants and removing the last clauses of state-sanctioned racial discrimination.
What exactly does this relate with Finland? Since when have Saami or the Roma been not allowed to vote, get services in their language , take occupation what they want or live where they want? Except the Roma have their own multicultural rules about living and the reindeer herding is a closed shop.
Finland recognises (unoficially) Finns, Finland-Swedes and Saami as country´s original populations. But Enrique has problems with Finns and Finland-Swedes, it seems. He talks only about Saami and Gypsies (the last ones BTW are not country´s original population).
Lucky for Enrique, by the time his Italian grandfather arrived in Argentina, the aborigines were all wiped out, making life safe for European immigrants and lots of land available.
MaryMekko, when my great grandfather arrived in Argentina there were still Native Argentineans in Patagonia that were hunted down like animals in the 1920s.
So your grandfather hunted native Patagonians and you are hunting native Finns – shouldn’t you give up the family tradition?
Allan, your argument is typical of what anti-immigration groups use. Stop playing the victim and take a more proactive stance.
It’s a shame that things like this are only being recognised & something done about them in 2012.
As someone who has lived in Australia (not ‘travelled’ or ‘back-packed’, but actually lived), I can say that from my experience, the general view from the majority on Aboriginal people was that they were second-class citizens & were the subject of much mockery, racism & general prejudice from other ‘normal/white’ Australians. A very strange point of view that I never really understood, seeing as all of these ‘real’ Aussie’s family lines would have originated from other countries anyway at some point in the past.
“Stop playing the victim and take a more proactive stance.”
Can I capture you with bolas and put you back on the boat?
Allan
Aren’t you even slightly embarrassed at some of the remarks that you post here?
No JD, I happen to be proud of my country and my people, their history, and the privilege I am educated and literate in more language than one. You on the other hand… can I get some whine my inferior?
Allan
LoL!
You mean that these remarks about hunting down an immigrant with boleadoras are serious!.
As for your alleged literacy, didn’t I correct your Finnish reading comprehension a few days ago? Something about 13 per cent, as I recall.
I bet you don’t share your opinions at work. We would have seen you on the news.
Keep taking the tablets.