A Rightful Place: Race, Recognition and a More Complete Commonwealth: Quarterly Essay 55

The nation has unfinished business. After more than two centuries, can a rightful place be found for Australia’s original peoples? Over the next two years, Australians will decide if and how Aboriginal people will be recognised in the Constitution. Professor Greg Craven writes: ‘We have a committed Prime Minister, and a committed opposition. We have a receptive electorate. There will never be a better time. We have no choice but to address the question. If constitutions deal with fundamental things, our indigenous heritage is pretty fundamental.’ In A Rightful Place, Noel Pearson shows how the idea of ‘race’ was embedded in the Constitution, and the distorting effect this has had. Now there is a chance to change it – if we can agree on a way forward. In place of race, Pearson argues the Constitution should recognise Australia’s Indigenous people. His essay seeks to show what Constitutional recognition means, and what it could make possible: true equality and a renewed appreciation of an ancient culture. This is a wide-ranging, eloquent call for justice, an essay of remarkable power that traverses history and culture to make the case for change.

Author Biography

Noel Pearson is a lawyer and activist and director of the Cape York Institute for Policy and Leadership. He has published many essays and newspaper articles. Up from the Mission (2009), a collection of his essays, charts his life and thought from his early days as a native title lawyer to his position today as one of Australia’s most influential figures.