EMBARGO: 7.30 PM FRIDAY 23 NOV. 1973
NATIONAL BROADCAST BY THE PRIME MINISTER, MR E. G. WHITLAM, M. P.,
FOR THE ELECTIONS OF THE NATIONAL ABORIGINAL CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE
TELECAST 8.00 PM, 23 NOVEMBER 1973
Tonight I want to speak directly and personally to the
Aboriginal people of Australia. I take great pleasure in doing so.
This is the first time that an Australian Prime Minister has
addressed himself on radio and television to our Aboriginal people.
I certainly hope it will not be the last time, and that what I
have to say tonight will be heard by all Australians with a concern
for the welfare and progress of our country and its reputation
in the world. I want to tell you of a most important election that is
taking place tomorrow. Nothing like it has been held before.
All Aboriginal people in Australia are eligible to vote. You will
be voting to elect the members of the National Aboriginal
Consultative Committee. This committee the IJ. A. C. C. will have
a significant role to play in advancing the cause of Aborigines
and Torres Strait Island Australians. I hope all Aboriginals will
exercise their right and duty to take part in this historic and
democratic process.
Let me explain how the Consultative Committee was set up
and what the Government wants it to achieve. You may recall
that in my policy speech last November I said that A~ boriginals
had for too long been denied their rightful place in Australian
society and that all Australians were diminished while this was
SO. Since taking office we have done much to restore the dignity
and opportunities of Aboriginals. We have embarked on many
important reforms in education, health and vocational training.
W~ e are pledged to end racial discrimination, and we shall soon
be introducing legislation for this purpose. We have appointed
a commission to determine the best way to grant land rights to
the Aboriginal people. In accordance with the clear wish of the
people expressed in the referendum of 1967, the Australian Government
is moving to assume full responsibility from the States fo~ r the
administration of Aboriginal affairs.
Many of the things we want to do are quite new when
compared with the old assimilation policies of the past. We want
to preserve the culture of the Aboriginal people their tribal
values such as music, languages and beliefs. We regard that as
our sacred trust. / 2
-2
Our most important objective now is to restore to
Aboriginals the power to make their own decisions about their
way of life. Already the Department of Aboriginal Affairs has
been transferring responsibility for community affairs from
Government superintendents and managers to Aboriginals themselves.
We believe the establishment of the National Aboriginal Consultative
Committee is an important part of this process. We want the
committee to be a forum for the expression of Aboriginal opinion.
We want it to allow a healthy two-way communication between
Aboriginals and the national Government.
Let me give you a few details about * the voting tomorrow.
You will be electing 41 delegates from a field of 193 candidates
who have nominated throughout Australia. The elected delegates
will be paid a salary and allowance, and we expect the committee
to meet two or three times a year. Already nearly 37,000 people
have L~ nrolled to vote. Mut let mie rettind youu that even if you
have not yet enrolled, you will still bci pcrmi-ittei to enrol
and vote at the polling booths tomorrow. For those in isolated
communities voting has been going on since last Saturday and will
continue for another week.
I am confident that this committee will work well and
achieve much. I hope all Aboriginals will seize this opportunity
to participate in its election. I should like to remind you of
some words I used earlier this year when I spoke to a meeting of
Aboriginal people in Canberra. I said this and the words
still apply " If there is one ambition my Government places above
all others, if there is one achievement for which I
hope we will be remembered, if there is one cause for
which future historians will salute us, it is this:
that the Government I lead removed a stain from our
national honour and hrruqrht Ibac: Jo~ St ice and equality
to the Aboriginal people."
Good night.