AUSTRALIAN BLACKS

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 23, 28 January 1938, Page 4

AUSTRALIAN BLACKS

THEIR FUTURE STATUS

THE BAR FROM PARLIAMENT

(From "The Post'i" Representative.) SYDNEY, January 20. The Federal Cabinet will consider proposals that Australian aborigines should be represented in Parliament. General opinion in Federal circles appears to favour direct'representation for the 50,000 or hi'ore full-blooded natives still surviving. A Federal member for the native race Would be nonvoting, like the member for the Northern Territory) but would have full opportunity to voice the grievances of his people. The Prime Minister (Mr. Lyoiis) has agreed to receive a deputation from the Aboriginal Progressive Association in Sydney on January 31. It is admitted in Federal circles that educated aborigines, such as David Unaipon, who has been prominent in aboriginal affairs for softie years, are quite capable of sitting in the national Parliament. In a letter to the Minister of the Interior (Mr. McEwen), David Unaipon declares that it Would be .a huge mistake to regard the 150 th Anniversary as a "wailing day" for aborigines. Rather it should ,be, the letter states, a day of appreciation of efforts being made for the hatives. .' "The many hopeful signs of an awakening interest in the native race is a Cause for .rejoicing rather than weeping," the letter continues. "As a representative Of the native race I: would like to urge that the 150 th An-1 niversary of Australia should be celebrated by the inauguration of a new.! programme by which all the privileges of the dominant race should be given to the blacks. The time is past to talk of segregation. Let my people come more fully into the national family. There have been enough scientific investigations already, and. no new facts have been brought to light, The hatives should not be kept in the Cradle any longer. The aborigines want to' be. released from the ties that bind them to a decayed system, aiid want to be associated practically with" the white man in the development of Australia." , 4 OBSTACLES >tO AN ELECTION. There is a great obstacle in the way of having an aboriginal elected to Parliament. The Federal Electoral Act provides that no Australian aboriginal may be enrolled or may vote. In view of this fact, the Cabinet is likely to decide against the proposals to give natives representation in Parliament, but an aboriginal representative could be appointed, as distinct from elected. It appears that an amendment of the Constitution would be necessary to achieve an elected representative, and no Federal Government is likely to sponsor a reft ivndum on the subject. Professor A. P. Elkln, Professor of Anthropology at Sydney University, is one who has always espoused Parliamentary representation for the aborigines. This week he went a step further. In a public address, he said he thought intermarriage with whites •Would benefit"Australian aborigines in the long run. - "I think the aborigines will'be absorbed by the whites," he said. "Before that can happen, however, education to overcome colour prejudices is necessary. We cannot continue'segregating the aborigines any longer. Their salvation lies in becoming an integral part of our social and economic life," The secretary of the Aborigines' Progressive Association (Mr. W. Ferguson) said that the Communist Party had tried to link up -with his organisation. -'-'I--have -bees- offered--funde .on.-behalf of the Communist Party to cover all the association's printing 'and office expenses if I permit ther Communists to sponsor our cause," Mr. Ferguson said.