In late September, American rap legend MC Hammer made a spectacular intervention into Australia’s upcoming referendum to establish a Voice to Parliament for First Nations people. In a tweet, he urged Australians to “repair the breach”.
International attention on the vote On October 14, Australians will vote whether to amend the Constitution to establish a new advisory body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people called the Voice to Parliament. The new body would provide advice and make representations to parliament and the government on any issues relating to First Nations people. If the referendum passes, the body’s powers would be set by federal parliament.
Once we exclude content generated in Australia and unknown locations, the number of mentions drops to around 148,000 in the last three months. Launches and rallies in support of the “yes” campaign have also been held in the US and UK, receiving online attention:But the Meltwater data is restricted to English, and can only reveal so much about how much attention people in other countries are paying to the Voice referendum.
For example, China has cited the gaps in health, life expectancy and incarceration rates between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians as a way to criticise Australia’s “systematic discrimination and oppression” of First Nations people in international forums such as the UN Human Rights Council. Read more: Despite its Pacific 'step-up', Australia is still not listening to the region, new research shows
Foreign Minister Penny Wong has also sought to centre and value First Nations people in Australia’s modern identity and diplomacy, including in international speeches. To the UN General Assembly last week, she said Australia draws “on the knowledge of First Peoples carrying forward the oldest continuing culture on earth”.