Article: A conversation with Helen Hughes.(Devine)(Interview)

THE 1967 REFERENDUM on the status of Aborigines did not, as has come commonly to be believed, confer Australian citizenship on them. They had had that since 1947, when Australian--rather than British--citizenship was introduced. Nor did the referendum give Aborigines the right to vote. They had had that since 1965. The referendum removed from the Constitution a passage that said the Commonwealth government could "make laws in respect of any race, other than the Aboriginal race". The objective of the amendment was to enable the government to make laws benefiting Aborigines.

The "yes" vote was over 90 per cent. The regrettably brief debate that followed centred on ...

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