Letter to the Editor - The Abbott idea, like all other proposals for "constitutional recognition", is foolishly divisive and ethically unfair

To The Age        Establishing a block of "Indigenous" seats in the Senate would be a constitutional blunder and fundamentally inequitable ("Abbott idea worth heeding", 22/1). It is right for us to especially honour the Aboriginal people and their culture, because of their long period of custodianship of the continent. It is also good that we use some of our taxes to advance the welfare of Aboriginals experiencing poverty or long-range results of the cultural dislocation they have experienced as a people. However, legislation today needs to be founded on the equality, constitutionally, of all Australians, no matter what their ethnic and cultural origins and ancestry. The Abbott idea, like all other proposals for "constitutional recognition", is foolishly divisive and ethically unfair.
Nigel Jackson, Belgrave, Vic