by Cairns News contributors

Red flags are being raised over Prime Minister Albanese’s pledge to hold a referendum to include Aborigines in the Commonwealth Constitution of Australia.

Already indigenous bodies are drawing battle lines between supporters and those against a token gesture by the socialists of the Labor Party when Aborigines already are included in the Preamble of the Constitution:

“WHEREAS the people of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, and Tasmania, humbly relying on the blessing of Almighty God, have agreed to unite in one indissoluble Federal Commonwealth under the Crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and under the Constitution hereby established:

And whereas it is expedient to provide for the admission into the Commonwealth of other Australasian Colonies and possessions of the Queen:

Be it therefore enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:”

by Pauline Hanson

A great deal has been said this week about my leaving the Senate chamber as the ‘acknowledgement of country’ was recited.

A lot of it was predictable nonsense from the usual suspects. A lot of it was very supportive.

Real aboriginal stockmen branding cattle in the Northern Territory. These are real blackfellas, not the ‘coconuts’ referred to by full blood Aborigines. The ‘coconuts’ infest halls of power, control indigenous media and land councils. Real Aborigines say the ‘coconuts’ are dividing Australia for their own selfish means and denying any benefit to struggling communities.

Like many Australians, I’ve had enough of token gestures and symbolic nods to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people which do nothing to address the real disadvantages they continue to face. I’m sick and tired of being welcomed to my own country.

We’re all Australians, indigenous and otherwise, and we all share sovereign ownership of this country equally.

And like many Australians, I think these useless gestures only perpetuate racial division in our country. This week’s move to display the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags in Parliament was a step too far, and what prompted me to take a stand and leave the chamber that morning.

Senator Pauline Hanson correctly predicts the proposed Constitutional amendment to enshrine Aborigines will promote more racial division than ever before and unlikely to be carried in any case.

We are one people living in one nation under one flag – the Australian national flag. It’s the only flag which should be displayed in the seat of our democracy.

I’m never going to sit still in Parliament for an ‘acknowledgement of country’ again. I’m not going to recognise foreign flags displayed in Parliament. I’m never going to support an indigenous ‘voice to Parliament’ being enshrined in the Constitution. I will never support any idea or proposal which seeks to divide Australia on racial lines once again. That sort of thing was rightly consigned to the dustbin of history decades ago.

What I will do is continue to work with all Australians, especially Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, on the solutions which will end violence and poverty in indigenous communities and empower indigenous people to fully participate in the opportunities which come with living, learning and working in this great nation.

Watch Senator Hanson’s video on the acknowledgment of country protest…

WATCH HERE