Current:Home > ScamsMan runs almost 9,000 miles across Australia to raise support for Indigenous Voice -AssetTrainer
Man runs almost 9,000 miles across Australia to raise support for Indigenous Voice
View
Date:2025-04-27 15:50:29
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Ultramarathon runner Pat Farmer ended a 14,400-kilometer (8,950-mile) run at the central Australian sandstone landmark Uluru on Wednesday after a seven-month journey to raise public support for the creation of an Indigenous advocacy body in the constitution.
Australians will vote on Saturday at a referendum that would enshrine in the constitution a so-called Indigenous Voice to Parliament, a mechanism for Indigenous Australians to advise lawmakers on policies that effect their lives.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was at Uluru, which is an Indigenous sacred site also known as Ayers Rock, to welcome the 61-year-old runner’s arrival.
Albanese said he had “utter admiration and awe” for Farmer’s commitment for the cause which opinion polls suggest is unlikely to succeed.
“No one has done more than this bloke and I am very pleased to welcome him here at Uluru,” Albanese said.
Farmer said his first glimpse of the enormous rock rising from the flat Australian wilderness at a distance of 40 kilometers (25 miles) brought a tear to his eye.
“I’m glad. Very, very happy to be at this point in time, this point in the world’s time where we start to acknowledge Indigenous communities right around the world and the significance of that culture,” Farmer told reporters.
The former lawmaker’s run began in Hobart on the island state of Tasmania on April 17 and traversed every Australian state as well as both mainland territories.
Uluru has special significance in the campaign to create the Voice as a means of acknowledging Indigenous Australians in the constitution.
The Voice was recommended in 2017 by a group of 250 Indigenous leaders who met at Uluru. They were delegates of the First Nations National Constitutional Convention the then-government had asked for advice on how the Indigenous population could be acknowledged in the constitution.
While recent opinion polls suggest most Australians oppose the Voice, a poll published Wednesday found 59% of Indigenous respondents were in favor.
That support had slipped from more than 80% supported suggested by polls published early this year.
The latest poll published in The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper was based on an online survey of 420 Indigenous voters between Sept. 22 and Oct. 4. It has a 4.8 percentage point margin of error.
Indigenous Australians account for 3.8% of Australia’s population. They have worse outcomes on average than other Australians in a range of measures including health, employment, education, incarceration and suicide rates. Statistically, Indigenous Australians die around eight years younger than the wider community.
veryGood! (4)
Related
- A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
- Massachusetts governor to pardon hundreds of thousands with marijuana convictions
- Oklahoma teen Nex Benedict’s cause of death revealed in autopsy report
- Storm carrying massive ‘gorilla hail’ threatens parts of Kansas and Missouri
- As Trump Enters Office, a Ripe Oil and Gas Target Appears: An Alabama National Forest
- New York trooper found not guilty in fatal shooting of motorist following high-speed chase
- Washington State Bar Association OKs far lower caseloads for public defenders
- Georgia House speaker aims to persuade resistant Republicans in voucher push
- North Carolina trustees approve Bill Belichick’s deal ahead of introductory news conference
- How Chinese is TikTok? US lawmakers see it as China’s tool, even as it distances itself from Beijing
Ranking
- Intel's stock did something it hasn't done since 2022
- Florida citrus capital was top destination for US movers last year
- Gulf Coast Petrochemical Buildout Draws Billions in Tax Breaks Despite Pollution Violations
- Royal insider says Princess Kate photo scandal shows wheels are coming off Kensington Palace PR
- Scoot flight from Singapore to Wuhan turns back after 'technical issue' detected
- Last suspect sought in deadly bus shooting in Philadelphia, police say
- Judge to hear arguments on whether to dismiss Trump’s classified documents prosecution
- Race for Chicago-area prosecutor seat features tough-on-crime judge, lawyer with Democratic backing
Recommendation
This was the average Social Security benefit in 2004, and here's what it is now
Lionel Messi leaves Inter Miami's win with a leg injury, unlikely to play D.C. United
Kenny Payne fired as Louisville men's basketball coach after just 12 wins in two seasons
Watch a tortoise in Florida cozy up for a selfie with a camera
Former Syrian official arrested in California who oversaw prison charged with torture
Georgia judge tosses some charges against Trump and others in 2020 election case
Nearly 1,000 Family Dollar stores are closing, owner Dollar Tree announces
Arizona’s most populous county has confirmed 645 heat-associated deaths in metro Phoenix last year