COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
SPEECH BY
The Rt Hon. HAROLD HOLT, M. P.,
ON
ABORIGINALS-GOVERNMENT POLICY
Ministerial Statement
[ From the ' Parliamentary Debates', 7 September 1967]
Mr HAROLD HOLT ( Higgins-Prime
Minister)-by leave-Mr Speaker, I wish
to inform the House of certain decisions
that -the Commonwealth Government has
taken in respect of Aboriginals following
the referendum in May of this year and
subsequent discussions with the States.
Before doing so, may I briefly remind
honourable members of the two changes
that have been made in the Constitution
and the reasons for them?
Section 127 of the Constitution has been
repealed. This section provided that, in
reckoning the numbers of the people of
the Commonwealth or of a State or other
part of the Commonwealth, Aboriginal
natives should not be counted. The framers
of the Constitution had, as their principal
reason for including this section in the
Constitution, the practical difficulty of
counting the Aboriginal population at that
time. In 1900 this was a very substantial
problem. Today, however, the facilities for
including Aboriginals in a census are
greater and the need for the section no
longer exists. This was -the first change.
12695/ 67 The second change has been the deletion
of the words ' other than the aboriginal
race in any State' from paragraph xxvi of
section 51. Section 51 ( xxvi) of the Constitution
formerly read:
' 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:
( XXvi) The people of any race, other than the
Aboriginal race in any State, for whom
it is deemed necessary to make special
laws.'
This part of the Constitution had been
framed as a protection for Aboriginals but
a belief had developed that it was discriminatory
and, while the Government considered
this to be erroneous, the belief persisted.
It was felt therefore that the words in
question should be removed and this has
now been done. One effect of omitting the
words has been to confer upon the Commonwealth
a power to make special laws
for the people of the Aboriginal race in
any State if the Parliament considers it
desirable or necessary. This is what we call
a concurrent legislative power. In other
words, it is now possible for the Commonwealth
Parliament to legislate, but it does
not mean that the States automatically lose
their existing powers. There has been, and
there is, no intention on the part of the
Commonwealth that authority should be.
as it were, wrested from the States.
The public voted overwhelmingly in
support of these changes and the Government
took steps to recognise the implica-
. tions of that vote. In my second reading
speech on the Constitution Alteration
( Aboriginals) Bill 1967 on 1st March of
this year, I said that, if proposals relating
to Aboriginals were approved, the Government
' would regard it as desirable to hold
discussions with the States to secure the
widest measure of agreement with respect
of Aboriginal advancement'.
Commonwealth and State Ministers
directly concerned with Aboriginal affairs
met in Perth on 21st July for their normal
biennial meeting. My colleague, the Minister
for Territories ( Mr Barnes), represented
the Commonwealth Government. A wide
ranging discussion took place on policy and
administrative matters relating to Aboriginals.
There was a general agreement
among the States on their relationship with
the Commonwealth in these matters and
there will be, of course, further consultations
in the future. A report on the meeting
recently held will be made to the House
by my colleague, the Minister for Territories,
I believe at the conclusion of what
I now have to say.
I would stress at this point that, while
the Commonwealth Parliament is now in a
position to make laws and to prevail should
a conflict arise with the States, the Commonwealth
does not seek to intrude unnecessarily
in this field, or into areas of
activity currently being dealt with by the
States. There is a big variation in circumstances
and needs of Aboriginals in the
different States, as all honourable members
who have made a study of this matter,
will readily agree. For this reason, administration
has to be on a regional-or Statebasis
if it is to be effective. This is the
only practical way of ensuring that Aboriginals
receive direct attention and
assistance. The Government believes that the needs
of Aboriginals should continue to be kept in their true perspective as predominantly
social problems and not magnified or misrepresented
to suggest that the problems
are racial. The Government also believes
that it is not right to say that the Commonwealth
and the States have done little
in the past for Aboriginals. A great deal
has been done by Australian governments
in recent years and I will say more on this
point later.
The prime function of the Commonwealth,
in the light of these changes to the
Constitution, will be to carry out a policy
co-ordinating role. The Commonwealth will
not assume the responsibility for administration
which is largely with the States,
except in those areas like the Northern
Territory where we already have a direct
commitment. There will be a significant
advantage in policy co-ordination and this
should facilitate the sharing of experience
by the Commonwealth and the States in the
interests of our Aboriginal citizens. It will
also allow us to keep the Aboriginal question
properly in its perspective in our
international relationships.
To achieve this objective, the Government
proposes to establish an Office of
Aboriginal Affairs in Canberra. Its task will
be to co-ordinate policy and to provide the
machinery necessary for joint consultations
as the need arises with the States and with
relevant Commonwealth departments. The
new Office will draw on the experience of
the Department of Territories and have its
assistance in any administrative support that
miy be needed. The Office itself, however,
will come within the Prime Minister's
Department. It will thus come under my
own administration and have a central status
as the Commonwealth agency co-ordinating
policy affecting Aboriginals. This arrangement
will facilitate communication between
the Premiers of the States and myself on
Aboriginal matters, and further it will provide
a special avenue of communication
with the Government by Aboriginals themselves
or by organisations representing them.
The Commonwealth will make appropriate
financial provision required by the
policies and particular decisions adopted
in the future by the Commonwealth either
on its-own initiative or arising out of Commonwealth
and State consultation. We will
also continue the present practice of making
financial provision for Aboriginal
advancement through its Departments of
Territories and Interior where our direct
responsibilities are concerned and to the
States in the general context of Commonwealth-
State financial arrangements.
Through the Department of Health we will
conduct special health surveys and campaigns
among Aboriginals, as we have in the
past, in co-operation with the States. We
will continue to finance the Australian
Institute of Aboriginal Studies through the
Department of Education and Science. The
Office of Aboriginal Affairs will be able to
exercise a valuable co-ordinating role in all
these matters. These Government activities,
Commonwealth and State, have been
strongly and effectively supported by church
missions and by many voluntary organisations
throughout Australia. This devoted
work, I am confident, will continue.
The Commonwealth has already done
much in its own right to advance the welfare
of the Aboriginals as members of the
Australian community. I pay tribute to the
States for what they have done in their own
fields. At the same time, I commend to your
notice the work and results achieved by our
own Department of Territories which, for a
number of years now, has accepted tasks
beyond the normal limits of its responsibilities
in Aboriginal welfare.
The Government long ago established a
policy of assimilation as the proper policy
for Aboriginals. At a conference of Ministers
in 1965, the definition of assimilation
was revised to read as follows:
The policy of assimilation seeks that all persons
of Aboriginal decent will choose-
I emphasise the words ' will choose':
to attain a similar manner and standard of living
to that of other Australians and live as members
of a single Australian community-enjoying the
same rights and privileges, accepting the same
responsibility and influenced by the same hopes
and loyalties as other Australians. Any special
measures taken are regarded as temporary
measures, not based on race, but intended to meet
their need for special care and assistance, and to
make the transition from one stage to another in
such a way as will be favourable to their social,
economic and political advantage.
The word ' assimilation' is often misunderstood.
There is nothing mandatory or
arbitrary about it and it does not mean
interbreeding with the avowed objective of
eventually eliminating the Aboriginal
physical features or Aboriginal culture. It
may be that this will happen but if it does it is a matter of individual decision and
not of policy. Assimilation means that the
Aboriginals can be similar to other citizens,
not, of course, in looks, but with regard
to all the privileges and responsibilities of
citizenship. Our aim is to help the
Aboriginals to become an integral part of
our Australian community life.
The Aboriginal population in Australia
is increasing and some forecasts suggest that
the number might double by the end of
the century. The Aboriginal population in
Australia is now a little over 130,000. It is
made up of 44,600 full blooded Aboriginals,
77,500 part Aboriginals and 8,000 Torres
Strait Islanders. There is, as honourable
members know, the widest range of social
levels in our Aboriginal population. There
are nomads-a few only now-living an
utterly primitive life remote from civilisation.
There are some living a tribal existence
and some living an urban existence. There
are others at all stages of advancement
between this and full participation in the
life of the wider Australian community as
fully assimilated citizens. It is wrong
perhaps to put a money value on what we
are doing for Aboriginals but at least some
figures will give evidence that what we are
doing is increasing in scale. Last year the
Commonwealth and the States spent S21m
specifically on Aboriginal advancement and
this year the figure will be higher. Our own
figure is significantly higher and we await
the States Budget provisions, but we know
they will be higher. In 1944 Australian Governments
were spending just under
$ 500,000, so there has been a very big
and important increase in expenditurefrom
less than $ 500,000 to $ 21m.
The Commonwealth has already provided
$ 4,500,000 for Aboriginal advancement this
year-a 27% increase on expenditure last
year. There are other less visible areas of
Government assistance to Aboriginals
because, as citizens, they benefit in the
normal way like other Australians from the
services provided by various Government
Departments. In the last few years the Commonwealth,
State and Northern Territory legislatures
have been active in progressively removing
all discriminatory legislation from the relevant
acts of Commonwealth and State
Parliaments and, therefore, direct benefits
are not as readily identifiable as they were
in the past.
It is sometimes thought that the bulk
of the problems arising in connection with
Aboriginals will disappear provided money
is made available on a large scale. This
approach does not sufficiently recognise the
fact that many of the problems are psychological
and social in character and that the
expenditure of money that is not directed
to solutions based on assured practical
foundations will not resolve, but may
accentuate, some of the problems.
Assimilation as we have defined it is
two-way, requiring adjustment in outlook
and a sympathetic understanding on the
part of citizens both of European and
Aboriginal race in the community. In the
legal and formal sense none of the opportunities open to Australians generally are
closed to Aboriginals. What is needed in
many cases is help which will equip the
Aboriginal, by education and in every
possible way, and in their outlook, to avail
themselves of these opportunities. To attain
our goal, patience, persistence and understanding
are essential. What we are doing
will not mean that Aboriginals, as citizens,
will lose their identity, their pride of race
and their culture. It will mean that, through
successive generations, cultural adjustments
will take place-as they do in every society
the world over-and that our Aboriginals
will grow, without any enforced transition,
into the national environment in which they
live.
BY AUTHORITY: A. J. ARTHUR, COMMONWEALTH GOVERNMENT PRINTER, CANBERRA, A. C. T.