Preamble Final

Preamble to the Constitution

Written on 20/2/08-21/2/08
Edited on 5/3/08

In this preamble (or exposition) we will be outlining why we think that the Aboriginals’ deserve to be on the constitution and we will also outline how we must act to make sure that Australia becomes a more equal society. Firstly, we will outline how the Aboriginals’ health care is rapidly deteriorating and how we must act to prevent it. Secondly, we will outline how the Australian public is beginning to realise that we must reconcile for past wrong doings and that we must also not only say what we will do, but also act upon our words. Thirdly, we will outline how we must take action to ensure that the Aboriginals quality of life can be equivalent to everyone else in the views of education, health, crime etc. Fourthly, we will outline how we stole the Aboriginal land and culture, and how we must make up for that. Lastly we will explain how all of these issues mean that we must start to include the Aboriginals in the constitution, as if we do not, none of these acts will become issues of legality, which means a lot to the Aboriginals, especially those of the Stolen Generations. 

Firstly, it has been proved by many organisations, and reports, namely the ‘Mortality and Morbidity: Mortality of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ (1999-2000) report carried out by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the Aboriginal life expectancy is too far away from the rest of Australia to be acceptable. In fact the Aboriginals have a life expectancy 20 years lower than other Australians. This must be changed to make our society equal. Ways in which we can do this is by making sure that adequate health care centers are built within or very close to Aboriginal ’settlments’. We need to also make sure that more and more Aboriginals are given the chance to have a greater education so that we may have more doctors who understand how other Aboriginals feel. 

Secondly, Australia is becoming more and more aware as a whole that the past wrong doings must be made up for. Even the Federal Government has turned around and apologised to the Aboriginals, for what we have done to them. This also leads us to say that compensation must be provided in some shape or form. As if it doesn’t, the apology will be generally empty. We also must act as a whole nation to apologise, and I think that the government propose a Sorry Day during the Year to commemorate our official apology to the Indigenous people of this great land.

Thirdly, we must understand that the Aboriginal lifestyle as a whole is limited and that this must be changed to make sure that they have an equal quality of life. The ways that this must be fixed include a higher quality of education. As without a higher quality of education, the Aboriginal people will continue to find most of their bright youths in jail cells as they have not been educated properly. We also need to make sure that, as stated in my previous point, health care centres are developed to educate youths about how drugs aren’t the way to go and how to look after their bodies from disease. They need to also be educated in the ways of their culture, as it is an important part of every Australians heritage. To add to this, we must also make sure that teachers are educated to understand how the Aboriginals feel.

Fourthly, I would like to talk about the Aboriginals connection to the land. We stole that connection in the past and now we must make sure that it is restored. Although there are already systems in place, sometimes they don’t give back what they are meant to. What we should be doing is making sure that parts of the land become heritage listed, so that they will be a place for Aboriginals to seek their roots and understand how their ancestors lived and how they were so devoted to keeping the land in such great condition. We must also make sure that we ensure this land to the Aboriginals themselves, not third-party or government related organisations.

Finally, I suggest that all these issues require us to include the Aboriginals, in the Constitution of Australia, and also possibly the Commonwealth’s. The reason for this is that unless the Aboriginals become part of the constitution, all of these things can be ‘promised’ and then taken away. How this will happen, you may ask? Well the way this would happen is that the Preamble to the Constitution, although important, is not legally binding. This means that any of these things may not have to be carried out if a corrupt Government, after this one, is handed these duties. It means that they can go back on their word and not provide the Aboriginals with the lifestyle and quality of life that they deserve. Evidence of this comes from many sources and part of history, including Australia’s. Although this promise may not be as big as something like the Aboriginal lifestyle, in NSW when Bob Carr was in power, he promised that the M4 motorway would become toll free. He also promised the same would happen to the Harbour Bridge as it has now been payed of for quite a long time. But when Mr. Carr was re-elected none of these promises were fulfilled, as he could go back on his word, as there was nothing in place to legally bind him to these promises. However, after public outcry, the replacement premier, Mr. Morris Iemma, was forced to give a bit of leeway. The M4 became toll free, but only for E-Tag holders. So as you can see, this is something that must be done. And although the ‘promise’ was half-fulfilled, this doesn’t cut it when we are talking about the First people of our Great Nation.

In this preamble, we hope that we have proved to you that the Aboriginal peoples of Australia must be included in the Constitution if we are to secure their future in the great Heritage of the land known as Australia.

Written by Steven Zeater