This week is the anniversary of the 1967 Referendum. I am going to show that giving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples “equal rights” was for the benefit of the colony, and not for the benefit of Aborigines as it was sold to the Australian public.

Firstly: the movement was initially pushed by Lady Jessie Street. She was married into the Street dynasty, her husband was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of NSW. She started advocating for equal rights for Aboriginal people after returning from a trip to England in 1956. The Aboriginal equal rights campaigns of the 60’s were initiated by the elite of colonial society, and plausibly tied to the mother country itself.

In 1958, a meeting between various Aboriginal Advancement organisations was held in Adelaide. This became the Federal Council for Aboriginal Advancement (FCAA), later renamed to the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI). At the meeting, they discussed the need for “integration” and not assimilation of Aborigines. They spoke of the need for the federal government to have constitutional power over Aborigines and the need of “equal rights”.

In 1960 the United Nations General Assembly passed resolution 1514 The Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples. A related resolution; number 1541, contained two alternatives to full independence of the original, colonised peoples – “association” and “integration”. These two alternative options are very convenient for settler-colony states, as they avoid the possibility of settler repatriation – like what happened in Algeria where the settlers had to return to France. Not coincidentally, “integration” is the term that was used throughout the 1960’s domestically in Aboriginal affairs, and had already been emphasised in the inaugural FCAA meeting two years prior.

The qualifying condition attached to decolonisation on the basis of “Integration”, is that the colonised peoples must have equal rights and be free from discrimination. (See A/RES/1541(XV) Principle VIII)

Do you see now? Equal rights for Aborigines was needed for Australia to decolonise itself by the UN “Integration” rules.

In 1961, a House Select Committee on the Voting Rights of Aborigines was held. The report of the Committee makes references to the progress towards “Integration”.

Australia got a seat on the Special Committee in 1961. The Special Committee of the UN was tasked with supervising decolonisation of the world. This is probably why peoples under the subjugation of settler-colony states have never had the opportunity to decolonise – because those benefiting are guiding the UN decolonisation process. The committee itself evaluates and maintains the list of Non-Self-Governing Territories. Australia – despite it’s clear colonial foundations – was never put on the list. Neither were other British settler-colonial states. It seems that settler-colonial states have been trying to decolonise themselves secretly – like a kid scrambling to do their homework under their desk – hoping no one notices they haven’t done it yet.

During the 60’s, Western Australia and Queensland finally allowed state voting for Aborigines.

With the advocacy of the Federal Council for Aboriginal Advancement, tag-along authentic grassroots campaigns, and government action this all eventually led to the successful 1967 referendum.

That should have been the end of the story. Aborigines would have been integrated, then Australia would have declared independence.

But then Land Rights, Sovereignty and other grassroots movements happened. Lack of consent in 1967 (also required under the UN decolonisation resolutions) meant that the colonisation issue continues to drag on in it’s latest iteration in the form of constitutional reform. There was a major change in 1970 in the decolonisation rules (discussed more in this post) that required a new approach. The new thought-weapon is now the so-called “Indigenous Rights” movement. This movement, just like the 1960’s “Aboriginal Rights” movement, is intended to shepherd colonised peoples away from their full range of choices for self-determination in the international sense.

It’s very important that all colonised peoples understand their options under the original UN decolonisation resolutions.