March 1998
Djerrkura Wants Black Seats in Parliament

THERE has been another push in Australia to dedicate seats in State and Federal Parliaments to Indigenous Australians.
The New South Wales State Parliament and ATSIC are at the forefront of the latest push for Indigenous seats.
The New South Wales Legislative Council Standing Committee on Social Issues is inquiring into Aboriginal representation in Parliament and will complete its report later this year.
The Australian campaign follows an international trend which has seen dedicated seats for New Zealand's Maori people and Norway's Saami.
New South Wales Attorney-General, Jeff Shaw also applauds the New Zealand system as a possibility for New South Wales.
"The New Zealand system is a type of proportional representation," Mr Shaw said.
"Rather than the boundaries for a Maori seat being geographical, they are based on the size of the Maori electoral population - and this is determined by the number of Maori people who choose to be registered to vote in Maori electoral districts.
"A Maori, or a descendent of a Maori, may register as an elector of either a Maori electoral district or a general electoral district.
"Once registered, the elector may transfer to the other type of electoral district at the time of each five-yearly census.
"I believe that this perhaps radical proposal should be on the agenda for discussion in the 1990s in Australia.
"The issues being dealt with today go to the heart of the quality of our diverse, democratic society.
"The problems are profound, the solutions need to be both practical and radical."
ATSIC Chairman, Gatjil Djerrkura recently called for dedicated seats in Australian parliaments at the Constitutional Convention.
The issue has long been on ATSIC's books.
ATSIC's 1995 report to the Federal Government on Native Title Social Justice Measures - Recognition, Rights and Reform - recommended a national report be commissioned into reserved seats for Indigenous people in both Federal and State Parliaments.
It suggested that in the short term, the ATSIC Chairperson have a greater presence in Federal Parliament.
"The Indigenous peoples of Australia are a very special constituency, quite unlike other minorities, with unique interests and special claims to participation in Australia's political processes," the ATSIC report said.
"Whether it be Commonwealth, State or Local government, a democracy based only upon electoral majorities will inevitably be skewed towards the promotion of majority interests and will tend to deny participation of Indigenous peoples."
The report said while it was difficult to define what the appropriate level of Indigenous representation should be in the Commonwealth, State and Territory Parliaments and in Local Government, it was considered that measures should be taken to institute political reform.
These are:

  • Reserved seats in Parliament for Indigenous Australians at both the Commonwealth and State level;
  • Ward structures in local government areas having significant Aboriginal communities; and
  • Conditions on Commonwealth Local Government funding which encourage greater Indigenous representation on Council.
The report pushes for ATSIC and its Chairperson to have a greater role in Federal Parliament.
"It is important that ATSIC be able to exercise influence not only in its own right but through Australia's political institutions at national, State and regional levels.
"Representatives of Indigenous peoples, including ATSIC, should have legally enforceable speaking rights in legislatures and in Local Government councils on issues relating to Indigenous peoples.
The report recommends the ATSIC Chairperson should have the right:
  • to observer status in the Parliament;
  • to speak to either House on Bills affecting Indigenous interests;
  • to make an annual report to the nation on Indigenous affairs.

"Compared to other countries, Australia has been well behind for a long time in terms of formal political structures that properly recognise Indigenous peoples.
"In the United States, Canada and New Zealand there are treaty arrangements, some with constitutional authority.
"The United States has a long tradition of recognising tribes as self-governing bodies based on their inherent sovereignty which establishes a proper foundation for interactions with the Federal Government on a government-to-government basis.
"In New Zealand, four seats in the Parliament are designated for Maori people.
"Since 1987, the Indigenous people of Norway, the Saami, have had their own Parliaments."
The Aboriginal Reconciliation Convention in Melbourne in May last year also called for a report to be commissioned into reserved Indigenous seats.
Member for Arnhem in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly, John Ah Kit told the convention he felt odd talking about Aboriginal participation in government - "at least on the parliamentary side of politics".
"As a member of a political party, a Member of Parliament, and shadow spokesperson for, among other responsibilities, Aboriginal Affairs, I would seem to be some sort of proof that Indigenous Australians can make it in the world of parliamentary politics," Mr Ah Kit said.
"It would seem to suggest that Aboriginal people get a go in parliamentary democracy.
"But such a conclusion would be wrong.
"Only three of the 841 parliamentarians in Australian Federal, State and Territory legislatures are Indigenous and, at any one time, there has never been more than this number.
"There has only been one Indigenous member of Federal Parliament since Federation and the total number of Indigenous parliamentarians since 1901 wouldn't even make a soccer team.
Mr Ah Kit said with the exception of Western Australia, there had never been an Indigenous member of a State Parliament, nor of the Lower House of Federal Parliament.
"And for that matter, we have only had the right to stand and vote for parliament in most jurisdictions in the latter part of this century," he said. "So Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander membership of our parliaments has been, at best, token, and seems likely to remain so well into the future.
"This is in large part due to the fact that we, as Indigenous Australians, are a minority in our own lands.
To put it simply - and in political terms - we just don't have the numbers.
"Virtually the only reason we have had some success in representation is due to population patterns in more remote parts of Australia.
"But until there is a radical rethinking of the process by all Australian parties, political representation in this country will largely remain terra nullius for Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders," he said.
Australian Labor Party National President, Barry Jones told the Reconciliation Convention he was sceptical of reserve seats for Indigenous people.
Mr Jones said it would need a change to the Australian Constitution brought about by a referendum.
"Changing the Constitution will be a very difficult matter and it may not be the most practical way to proceed," he said.
"Without bipartisan support - sometimes even with it - referenda are very hard to carry.
"In 1977, a referendum to ensure that elections for both the Senate and the House of Representatives would be held on the same day, although supported by both major parties, was defeated.
"In 1988, referenda entrenching freedom of religion, trial by jury and equal value for votes were all defeated.
"Setting up separate representation within Parliament, as is the New Zealand situation, would require passage of a referendum.
"I would think it had virtually no chance of success and I am not convinced that it is the way to go," he said.
The Reconciliation Convention unanimously carried a motion seeking the adoption of special measures to increase Indigenous participation in government.
The Convention also felt there should be a report commissioned into the feasibility of reserved seats, and a funded mentoring process at all levels of government, to increase Indigenous participation in government at all levels.
But for now any Indigenous person who wants to be a member of Parliament will have to do it the old-fashioned way and stand for election, which is even more difficult for Indigenous people because it's all about getting the numbers.

David Liddle
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