As Australia votes, indigenous people call for debate on rights

16/5/2022 12:22

        Activists at one of the world's longest-running protests for the rights of indigenous people are not pinning their hopes for change on Australia's May 21 general election.
        
        The election campaign has been dominated by debate about rising prices, COVID-19 and climate change, with the plight of Australia's 700,000 or so indigenous people, who track near the bottom of its 25 million citizens on almost every economic and social indicator, far from the top of the agenda.
        
        While there may be cynicism about the election, some indigenous activists are taking advantage of the campaign to remind political parties of their core demand - that Australia for the first time recognises its original inhabitants in its constitution.
        
        The constitution makes no reference to indigenous people, whose leaders have struggled for generations to win recognition for injustices suffered since the beginning of European colonization in the 1700s.