A Seat at the Table

06 October 2011 | 0:00 - By

Video journalist Richard Davis on the push for allocated Indigenous seats in Federal Parliament.

WIP 051011 ALLOCATED SEATS MASTER ATTN RICHARD DAVIES 00003007_125316432

Ken Wyatt is a quiet, considered man. You get the impression he carefully ponders everything he says and does.

But the Liberal Party backbencher has changed his mind.

Ken is the first Aboriginal MP to sit in the lower house. He used to believe that seats should be set aside for Idigenous people, but now he’s in Parliament he’s decided that people should be elected on merit and not necessarily because of their Aboriginality.

But there’s widespread agreement that the current system isn’t working. 110 years since federation, only three Aboriginal people have been elected to the nation’s Parliament. Indigenous people make up about  2½ per cent of the population, which means that on raw numbers, there should be about 3 Indigenous MPs in the lower house after every election.
 
And so many people think seats should be reserved for Indigenous people to boost their parliamentary representation. New Zealand has had seats set aside for Maori MPs since the 1860s.

There are also calls for the major political parties to pre-select Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders in winnable seats. But as history has shown, that’s extremely uncommon and Indigenous people continue to be under-represented in the Parliament.

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Comments (4)

09 Oct 2011 7:59 AEST

roshan hill

From: belmore

Making government fair and available at all times for intelligent discourse

The more varied the people the more effective governing will be

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08 Oct 2011 2:05 AEST

Rosie

From: Halls Creek

Indigenous politicians

I think it will be a step in the right direction to give Aboriginal people a number of guaranteed seats in Federal parliament. Aboriginal people have endured so many set backs at the hands of non indigenous governments, it is necessary to make positive and drastic changes to try and alleviate the damage done to their culture, land and rights. A voice in the government of a country that once belonged solely to Aboriginal people is surely not too much to ask.

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07 Oct 2011 22:57 AEST

Kelly

From: Cairns

Pre-select Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders

I think that this idea has some merit, our cousins in NZ have shown what is possible. But here in Australia, the Party picks the candiate like State and Federal Govts have their choice of who should represent Aboriginal or T I people. We need to be more politically aware and talk about issues without the drama. First most of Australia still think like they did in the 1950's, still do not accept Aboriginal and TI people as the first Australians, their equals, and fellow Australians. That must change, how do we do this? One law for all Australians, stop the the BS!

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07 Oct 2011 22:30 AEST

Kelly

From: Cairns

Pre-select Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders

I think that this idea has some merit, our cousins in NZ have shown what is possible. But here in Australia, the Party picks the candiate like State and Federal Govts have their choice of who should represent Aboriginal or T I people. We need to be more politically aware and talk about issues without the drama. First most of Australia still think like they did in the 1950's, still do not accept Aboriginal and TI people as their equals, as fellow Australians. That must change, how do we do this?

Agree (2 people agree)    Disagree (0 people disagree) Report this
 

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