According to the Recognise movement's website, 242,339 people support its mission to "recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the Australian Constitution." Governed by Reconciliation Australia, the organisation held a fundraising dinner in inner-city Sydney on Thursday that was attended by both Prime mInister Tony Abbott and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten.
The framework of Recognise was being assembled as far back as 2010, after then-Prime Minister Julia Gillard secured a commitment to hold a referendum on constitutional recognition by the 2013 election. The Abbott government, which appointed a Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to conceive of the wording of the Constitutional amendment, announced in December 2013 that the draft wording of the amendment will be finalised by the end of 2014.
Speaking on Thursday evening at the Carriageworks venue, Mr Abbott reaffirmed his commitment to the issue by saying that he wants the referendum to "happen as quickly as I can", adding that he is "prepared to sweat blood". Despite his display of devotion, Mr Abbott also encouraged those seated in the room to be patient and "temper" their ambitions, as "nothing would set back the cause of our country and the rightful place of Aboriginal people at its heart than a referendum that failed".
Mr Abbott then proposed a preferred date for the referendum to be held on, citing the 50th anniversary of the 1967 referendum that will fall on May 27, 2017. Mr Abbott called the date a "richly symbolic time" to recognise the "reality" of Australian Aborigines in the constitution of a country that has an "Aboriginal heritage, a British foundation and a multicultural character". The national leader's words were then galvanised by a further donation of A$5 million to Recognise.
Indigenous leaders have responded warmly to Mr Abbott's sentiment and Recognise leader Tanya Hosch told SBS News that the prime minister's expression of a "desire" clarifies the "government's commitment to Indigenous recognition". Although Kirstie Parker, the co-chair of the National Congress of Australia's First Peoples, raised concerns on Friday about Mr Abbott's cautiousness at the fundraiser, Megan Davis, a professor of law at the University of NSW, said the PM was "exercising sound judgment in being cautious" because the matter is in "uncharted waters".
The campaign's parliamentary committee, led by indigenous Liberal MP Ken Wyatt and Aboriginal Labor Senator Nova Peris, is scheduled to release its final report in June 2015.