SM,

Check out the following:

http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/RP9697/97rp12

It corrects your assumptions.

Is Mise,

All you have to do is Google for yourself the Uluru
Statement from the Heart Information Booklet given
by the Law Department of Melbourne University.
It explains the meaning of "First Nations."

Foxy,

It does confirm my assumption that there is little appetite for implementing the full Uhluru statement.

SM,

You know things sometimes can surprise us.
Just like it did the people who thought
same sex marriage
would not be legislated or that Tony Abbott would
still retain his seat in Warringah, or that Labor
would win the election, or that Donald Trump would
never be President, or that Peter Dutton would
get thrown out, the list goes on.

Predicting anything is risky at the best of times.

However, the recent surveys do indicate that Australians
do support the recognition of their Indigenous people.
Perhaps because countries like the US, Canada, and
New Zealand have all moved to recognise their
Indigenous people in their respective Constitutions -
people are beginning to see that there's really
nothing to fear in us doing it as well. Still I
guess - only time will tell.

I remember attending World Expo - years ago
and how impressed I was with the way the culture of
our Indigenous people was presented for world
consumption. It was so beautiful and inspiring.

I've lost count of the number of tradtional
stories that I've read to young children in my
Storytime sessions and school visits in my libraries.

I loved visiting our Museum here in Melbourne
and taking my grand-kids to listen to programs
especially designed for kids run by Indigenous
staff. And the kids joining in and getting to touch
the fur capes that the storytellers were wearing.

Perhaps, with the right leadership and support this
time things will get to happen. Perhaps we shall as
a country become truly one - by acknowledging our
past and listening to all our people. Not just a
select few.

The story of Aboriginal people in South Australia, post European settlement, is a rather sorry story is it not Joe. Then that's something you should broadcast amongst your many friends, ah! Joe. Is it on your web site?

Foxy,

I read it, and I stumble over First Nation.

Do the learned authors not know the meaning of 'Nation'?

If they think that, as they appear to, that Aboriginal Australians ever had, or constituted/constitute a nation then I consider their thinking to be seriously flawed.
Either they are deliberately twisting the English language or they got their degrees under false pretences.

Is Mise,

I see that the following words as far as
you're concerned are beyond your comprehension:

"Our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tribes
were the first Sovereign Nations of the
Australian continent and its adjacent islands and
possessed it under our own laws and customs."

"This Sovereignty is a spiritual nation...
the ancestral tie ..."

A pity.