Australia enlists NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal on Indigenous reform

Former basketball star Shaquille O’Neal, speaks during an interview on CNBC about joining the board of Papa John’s International Inc., on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, US, March 22, 2019. REUTERS/ Brendan McDermid/File Photo

SYDNEY, Aug 27 (Reuters) – Former US basketball star Shaquille O’Neal will help Australia’s new government implement reforms for an Indigenous voice in parliament, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Saturday, standing alongside the NBA Hall of Famer.

Albanese’s center-left Labor Party government is seeking a referendum, needed to change the constitution, on recognizing Indigenous people in the constitution and mandating consultation with them on decisions that affect their lives.

Details on the so-called Indigenous voice to the parliament will follow the national referendum on the question, which the government wants to hold in the parliament’s current term.

“I’m here in your country, whatever you need from me you just let me know,” O’Neal told Albanese during a news conference in Sydney, before leaving without taking questions.

Indigenous Affairs Minister Linda Burney told the news conference that O’Neal had requested to be involved and described the mission for change as “a noble task.”

Albanese said O’Neal, a four-time NBA champion, had a track record in the United States of working for social justice and “lifting people up who are marginalized.”

“We want to build the broadest possible support and we want to engage with people who can connect with young people in particular but with all sections of society,” Albanese said.

“Shaq has that record of … bringing people together of different backgrounds which is consistent with our approach.”

O’Neal had agreed to do some videos on the issue, the prime minister said.

Labor committed to proposing a referendum while campaigning for the general election in May, when it ended almost a decade of rule by conservative Liberal-National coalition governments.

Australia’s Indigenous people have struggled for generations to win recognition for injustices since European colonization in the 1700s. The constitution, which came into effect in 1901, does not refer to the country’s indigenous people.

Reporting by Sam McKeith; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore

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