Australia: Downer urges recognition of indigenous people in Constitution

<p>Former foreign minister Alexander Downer, who recently replaced Mike Rann as Canberra's man in the UK, urged expats to vote Yes in any upcoming referendum.&nbsp;"The first people of our country have for many years in our country been treated as second-class citizens," the high commissioner said at Australia House.&nbsp;"We need as a country to raise their status to reflect the incredibly important role they played in the original formation of human civilisation in Australia."<br>Mr Downer said Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, since European settlement, "had what you might, politely, call a hard time".&nbsp;Changing the constitution would be a unifying moment, he said.</p>
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