The 1999 referendum question looked a lot different to the 1967 referendum, however both referendums had an overlapping goal, to fix the “aboriginal problem”. The overlooked, ‘missing piece’ that links the two referendums is changes to UN decolonisation rules that happened in 1970.

The attempt at integration of “Aborigines” in the 1960’s; under the UN rules at the time, would have been successful if original peoples did not contest it, and they integrated into mainstream Australian life. I suppose Australia thought that would eventually happen and all would be ok.

But the UN Decolonisation rules changed in 1970 with the passing of General Assembly Resolution 2625 – the Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Co-operation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations. This resolution put a spanner in the works for settler-colonial states.

This change in the rules was needed because of the problematic way decolonisation was happening in southern Africa. In 1965, the British colony of Southern Rhodesia declared a Unilateral Declaration of Independence to become Rhodesia. But it was the white settler-minority who voted for independence – they excluded the indigenous Africans, creating what the UN called an “illegal racist minority regime”. Rhodesia was heavily sanctioned by the UN because of this. South Africa was also a foreign-white-minority ruled apartheid state at this time.

Keep this historical context in mind. Resolution 2625 passed in 1970 had a section entitled The principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples. This included rules to make sure a settler-colonial occupation cannot simply declare independence over a territory without the indigenous population on-board.

Here is a part of this section of the resolution;

The territory of a colony or other Non-Self-Governing Territory has, under the Charter, a status separate and distinct from the territory of the State administering it; and such separate and distinct status under the Charter shall exist until the people of the colony or Non-Self-Governing Territory have exercised their right of self-determination in accordance with the Charter, and particularly its purposes and principles.

Nothing in the foregoing paragraphs shall be construed as authorizing or encouraging any action which would dismember or impair, totally or in part, the territorial integrity or political unity of sovereign and independent States conducting themselves in compliance with the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples as described above and thus possessed of a government representing the whole people belonging to the territory without distinction as to race, creed or colour.

A/RES/2625/XXV

This section is a thorn for settler-colonial states, and something they have made a staggeringly huge effort to work around. It is no accident that there is a section of text very similar to this in the UNDRIP. If you compare the texts side-by-side it becomes clear what is going on. In the hands of settler-colonial government agents – UNDRIP is a tool used to re-frame this external right to self-determination for colonised peoples into an internal right of self-determination for indigenous peoples. I believe the entire international “indigenous rights” movement is an exercise to aid settler-colonial states, not indigenous peoples. Please consider NOT using UNDRIP as a tool to advocate for your rights, because your international political status must be addressed before any discussion of domestic ethnic minority rights.

What this section in resolution 2625 effectively means is two things;

1. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples retain a status separate and distinct, retaining the right to self-determination (including option of independence) until they themselves exercise it. This means that it is a risky move for Australia to declare independence without bringing the original peoples along, because the original peoples could later declare independence separately, thus contesting the declared independent Australia. I think this is why Canada ‘patriated’ their constitution in 1982, and the reason for the Australia Acts 1986; bizarre gymnastics – because declaring independence is risky, so they do the closest they can.
2. For settler states to become independent they must be possessed of a government representing the whole people, and thus including the peoples with the special status. It also means that a settler-state is vulnerable if it does not possess such an inclusive government. In Australia, the peoples of the land are not represented in the constitution; neither is there a treaty agreeing that the Australian government represents them. Other settler-colonial states with treaties may or may not meet this criteria, it would depend on detail in the treaties. This is why the 1967 crossing out of “except for the aboriginal race in any State” doesn’t fix the problem anymore under the 1970 rules. The Australian government still does not represent the original peoples.

The 1999 referendum and peripheral activities were an attempt to do the following;

• Recognise symbolically that the Australian government represents the whole people – (so needs to include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples).
• Build the requisite aboriginal decision making institution (ATSIC) that can exercise the right to self-determination and choose independence as part of Australia.
• Re-enacting the constitution (into a home-grown/autochthonous one, and not a colonial one) and becoming a republic.

From the Australian point-of-view, these things solve the “aboriginal problem” in an external sovereignty sense. These points still need to be addressed to this day; and are all addressed in the Uluru Statement reform package to the benefit of the coloniser.

The catalyst for reform

The First International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism (1990 – 2000) was likely the catalyst for the 1999 referendum. The UN decided they were going to make a burst of effort progressing the 30-year-old Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples. You can imagine that settler-colonial countries would feel eyeballs on them, as they are colonies with unfinished business.

The land rights movement and grassroots activism also contributed a lot to keeping the pressure on.

The decade coincided with the life of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation and the formation and dismantling of ATSIC. If you keep Australia’s international goals in mind, you can see a lot of things that happened domestically in the 90’s were directly related to these goals. This will be covered in a future post I will write – “1999 Referendum – How”.

Title image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay