With his long white beard and broad black hat, Australia's "father of reconciliation" cuts a distinctive figure. Of all Patrick Dodson's battles for his fellow aboriginal people, though, none has proved more demanding than the bid to end what he calls the "ridiculous concept" that is still enshrined in the country's constitution: that when the British first settled in 1788, the land was considered terra nullius, or unoccupied. Australians will soon vote in a referendum on finally recognising the country's indigenous people in its founding document. Mr Dodson is co-chairman of a panel, half of whose members are aboriginal, that on January 19th is due to submit a report recommending the questions Australians should be asked to approve. This will be crucial. Australian pride at having forged a successful, multicultural country sits oddly with the country's constitution. Promulgated in 1901, when Australia's six states formed a federation, the document still contains clauses that constitutional legal experts say allow discrimination on racial grounds.
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