Prime Minister Tony Abbott has previously committed to a referendum to recognise Indigenous people in the Constitution, telling advocates that he was “prepared to sweat blood”.
Speaking in 2014, Mr Abbott hinted that he would hope “that it might happen” on the 50th anniversary of the 1967 referendum - May 27, 2017.
But his efforts have been criticised by Senator Leyonhjelm, who told his Upper House colleagues that “no one person’s ancestry is more important than another person’s”.
The Liberal Democratic Senator for NSW spoke in opposition to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Recognition (Sunset Extension) Bill 2015 on Thursday, saying it singled out people by race.
“Every human being in Australia is a person, equal before the law,” he said.
“Giving legal recognition to characteristics held by certain persons – particularly when those characteristics are inherent, like ancestry – represents a perverse sort of racism.”
"It is casting them as un-Australian".
Senator Leyonhjelm also took issue with some wording of the Bill, stating that phrasing such as “relationship of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples with their traditional lands and waters” was stereotyping.
“It is likely that some Aboriginal people do not have a relationship with traditional lands and waters,” he said.
“What is the Parliament doing to these people when it asserts that Aboriginal peoples have such a relationship? It is denying their Aboriginality.”
Senator Leyonhjelm also said the Bill was casting Indigenous people as “un-Australian”, through allegedly divisive statements on culture and language.
He noted that his party and sister party in the NSW election — the Outdoor Recreation Party — had no policies specific to Australia’s Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders.
His comments have offended some of his fellow senators, including Greens spokesperson for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issues, Rachel Siewart.
Senator Siewart told SBS she was “extremely disappointed” by the comments, saying she intended to speak with Senator Leyonhjelm over the issue.
"It’s too early for anyone to be so trenchantly opposed to this".
“It clearly showed a lack of understanding and empathy for the disadvantage that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have faced,” she said.
“I will definitely be talking to him.”
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Mick Gooda has also dismissed Senator Leyonhjelm’s comments that constitutional recognition is divisive.
In a statement provided to SBS, Mr Gooda said the referendum would be “an opportunity to bring Australians together”.
“This is about ending the historical exclusion of the first tens of thousands of years of Australia’s history and removing the existing race discrimination from the Constitution,” he said.
“If you support race equality, it’s important to understand that the Constitution doesn’t currently reflect that. It allows for race discrimination today.
“It’s too early for anyone to be so trenchantly opposed to this. Let’s remember this is an opportunity to make progress in the relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.”
The debate follows a push from NSW leaders for a federal referendum on Indigenous constitutional recognition, supported by both Premier Mike Baird and former Opposition leader John Robertson.
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Read Senator David Leyonhjelm's speech in full below.
