Australia’s indigenous leaders reject ‘symbolic’ recognition and call for treaty at historic Uluru summit

Aboriginal leaders in Australia have made a plea for a treaty and a formal "voice" to be enshrined in the constitution after outlining their demands in a historic “statement from the heart”.

Following a three-day convention in the centre of the country at Uluru, or as Ayers Rock, the 250 delegates called for a referendum to change the constitution to “empower our people and take a rightful place in our own country”.

Australia is the only country in the Commonwealth in which the indigenous people do not have a formal treaty.

For several years, successive governments in Australia have floated the possibility of holding a referendum to include recognition in the constitution of the Aboriginal people.

But delegates at the convention soundly rejected a merely symbolic gesture and demanded that they be given a “First Nations Voice”, which would involve providing Aborigines a recognised voice in parliament.

The convention also called for the establishment of a truth-telling commission to examine the past treatment of Aboriginal people.

“When we have power over our destiny our children will flourish,” said the statement, titled the “Uluru statement from the heart”.

“They will walk in two worlds and their culture will be a gift to their country.”

The historic convention came 50 years after a referendum in which Australians overwhelmingly voted to change the constitution to include Aboriginal people in the census – a move widely seen as finally recognising Aborigines as equal citizens.

The Uluru statement suggested that comprehensive changes to the nation’s constitution would help to finally improve the plight of the Aboriginal people.

"Proportionally, we are the most incarcerated people on the planet. We are not an innately criminal people," the statement said.

"Our children are aliened from their families at unprecedented rates. This cannot be because we have no love for them. And our youth languish in detention in obscene numbers. They should be our hope for the future… In 1967 we were counted; in 2017 we seek to be heard.”

A report outlining options for constitutional recognition will be prepared later this year and presented to Malcolm Turnbull, the prime minister, and Bill Shorten, the opposition leader.

Megan Davis, a participant at the convention, said the changes could help the Aboriginal people to “participate fully” in the Australian state. "The mob overwhelmingly rejected symbolism or a statement of acknowledgement in the constitution," she told Fairfax Media.

Pat Anderson, another participant, told The Australian: “All the money that’s [spent] on us and all the programs, they’ve all failed. There has to be proper truth telling, in the same way that there are in other countries.”

Delegates said a referendum could be held as soon as next year.

Referendums are held rarely in Australia and voting is compulsory. The last referendum, held in 1999, proposed abandoning the British monarchy in favour of a republic  but was rejected at the ballot box.