“Sections 127 and 51 discriminate. Referend ‘em both” Referendum campaign slogan 1965
On 30 November 1965 36 FCAATSI campaigners left Sydney by bus to Canberra to hold a peaceful, silent vigil outside Parliament House and to speak to Members about constitutional change.
The reason for the protest was that on 11 November 1965 the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Menzies, had presented a Bill to the House of Representatives proposing to delete S. 127 of the Constitution – the section which read “In reckoning the numbers of people of the Commonwealth, or of a State or other part of the Commonwealth, aboriginal natives shall not be counted.”
In relation to S. 127, the Prime Minister said “…the matter can be simply put by saying that section 127 is completely out of harmony with our national attitudes and with the elevation of the Aborigines into the ranks of citizenship which we all wish to see.” 1