Ruth Pollard, Columnist

Why Did Australia Fail Its First Nations Citizens?

Asian neighbors are asking whether they can truly partner with Canberra after voters rejected the recognition of Indigenous people in the constitution.

October 16, 2023 at 2:09 AM UTC

By Ruth Pollard

Ruth Pollard is a Bloomberg Opinion Managing Editor. Previously she was South and Southeast Asia government team leader at Bloomberg News and Middle East correspondent for the Sydney Morning Herald.

A day of mourning.
Photographer: Lisa Maree Williams/Bloomberg

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First Nations Australians deserved so much better than this.

The overwhelming, country-wide rejection of their recognition in the constitution was the inevitable end to a campaign of misinformation, conspiracy theories and racism that deliberately sought to divide a nation with Trump-style political smears. Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander citizens will struggle to recover from the bruising fight for their basic rights.