Posts mislead on old referendum result as Australia gears up for landmark Indigenous rights vote

The claim was shared on a Facebook page with over 50,000 followers on May 23, 2023.

The post features an image with text that says: "1967 referendum- over 90% of Australians agreed with aboriginals & voted to remove race from our constitution & become 1 people. 2023- Labor with Albanese, Burney, Dodson & the independent hate spitting Thorpe want to erase that result & bring division back. #VoteNo."

A resounding referendum win in Australia occurred in 1967, when more than 90 percent of voters favoured constitutional amendments related to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is to set a date for another referendum -- expected by year's end -- where voters decide if the Indigenous population gets a dedicated constitutional "voice" in federal policymaking (archived link).

Opposition leader Peter Dutton -- whose conservative coalition is split on his referendum stance -- has claimed a "Yes" vote would split the country along racial lines.

Image

A screenshot of the false Facebook post taken on 19 June, 2023.

Similar posts saying the 1967 referendum removed race from Australia's constitution were also shared on Facebook here, here and here.

However, the constitutional changes that resulted from the said vote did not eliminate race from the charter.

'Race powers'

Before the referendum, Section 51 (xxvi) of Australia's charter says Parliament has the power to make laws for "the people of any race, other than the Aboriginal people in any state, for whom it is necessary to make special laws" (archived link).

The vote led to an amendment that removed the words "other than the aboriginal people in any state".

The provision currently reads: "The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws for the peace, order, and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to: the people of any race for whom it is deemed necessary to make special laws" (archived link).

Experts commonly refer to Section 51 (xxvi) of Australia's charter as "race power", as it grants the Commonwealth the power to make special laws for the people of any race (archived link).

Anne Twomey, a professor of constitutional law at the University of Sydney, told AFP the 1967 referendum "extended the application of the existing race power so that Parliament could also use it to make laws with respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples".

Twomey added: "One could reasonably argue that the Voice referendum builds on the 1967 referendum, but it certainly doesn't 'undo' or 'reverse' it, as it does not limit or remove the power granted to Parliament by the 1967 referendum.

"It leaves the race power intact."

Monash University constitutional law professor Luke Beck separately told AFP: "The Voice referendum simply sets up an advisory body so that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples can provide advice to Federal Parliament and the government about matters affecting them."

The 1967 referendum also allowed Aboriginal people to be counted as part of the nation's population.