Senator CHRIS EVANS (Western Australia—Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Science and Research and Leader of the Government in the Senate) (14:06): I thank Senator Brown for the question. The Labor government is committed to constitutional change to recognise the unique and special place of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. We believe that the Australian Constitution should recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their unique history, culture and connection to this land; reflect our country's fundamental belief in the importance of equality, through the removal from it of all references to race; and acknowledge that additional effort is needed to close the gap on Indigenous disadvantage in this country. Great progress has been made towards constitutional recognition. In December 2010, the government appointed an expert panel to identify how to recognise Indigenous Australians in the Constitution. We have been working with local organisations to build a momentum for change. But we do know that change can only happen when there is majority support for any referendum put to the people. We think some positive work has been done, but a progress report from Reconciliation Australia makes it clear that the level of support we need for a successful referendum is not yet there. Having recently helped my son with his year 12 politics assignment, the record of referendums reminded me— Senator Payne: Did he pass? Senator CHRIS EVANS: I had to go and do some study before I could help. The record of referendums reminded me how poor the success rate in referendums has been. We know that the prospects at the moment would not be good, given the level of understanding and awareness about these issues in the Australian community. The government, Reconciliation Australia and Indigenous leaders agree that more time is needed to build support for the changes we would like to see. It is important we get this right, that we are able to build that support, before we put a referendum to the people for this important change to our Constitution.