CANBERRA, May 31 (Xinhua) -- The lower house of Australia's Parliament has passed legislation to establish a referendum on the Indigenous Voice proposal.
The House of Representatives on Wednesday morning voted 121-25 in favor of the government's Constitution Alteration Bill.
It means Australians are now one step closer to voting on whether to establish an Indigenous Voice to Parliament in the country's first referendum since 1999.
The bill will now head to the Senate before the government sets a date for the poll later in 2023.
If successful, the referendum would alter the constitution to recognize First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice and establish the Voice as a body that would advise the federal parliament on issues relating to Indigenous Australians.
The vote in Parliament coincided with more than 100 Australian migrant and cultural organizations joining forces to declare their support for the voice.
The community organizations released a joint resolution asking for all Australians to work together on ensuring a referendum on the proposal is successful. ■
