Australia recognising Aborigines as the nation’s original inhabitants
Australia has taken a historic step towards recognising Aborigines as the nation’s original inhabitants.
Restitution for past wrongs against Australia’s Aboriginal people has been slow in coming. In 1992 the courts overturned “terra nullius” – the myth that the continent was empty when Europeans arrived. But 20 years on, the constitution still does not recognise Aborigines as the land’s first inhabitants. Today, a small but symbolic step was taken towards that goal.
Only in 1967 was the constitution changed to recognise Aboriginal people as citizens, count them in the census and give them the right to vote. Until then, they had been officially classed as flora and fauna.(source)
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