I just searched on Google, "Is it illegal to identify as Aboriginal?". ANSWER: "Your Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander heritage is something that is personal to you. You do not need a letter of confirmation to identify as an Indigenous person." What are the odds that Australian Aboriginals are about to become the fastest-growing race on Earth.

As an Aboriginal genealogist, its a bloody nightmare and a disgrace...difference between having an Aborigonal ancestor, which dosent make you an Aboriginal person, to Being Aboriginal which is a lived experience. Im tired of people coming saying their 4x grandparent was Aboriginal to then state they are Aboriginal!!!! DNA testing for Aboriginality coupled with lifestory work to back it up is what should be happening.

If the YES vote becomes a thing then I'm discovering my Aboriginality real fast. The fact I was born in London is irrelevant.

Having spent my life as a public servant working with welfare recipients, I can confidently attest to human nature being willing to lie when there are benefits to be gained for doing so. Especially when no one looks into your claims.

So many White Aboriginals.... I'm White, so I MUST be Aboriginal as well.

Im in Hervey By. Everyone up here has agreed to sign up as ABORIGONAL if the YES vote goes through. In fact many people who need access to MYAGEDCARE are doing it too. There is so much money for the Aboriginals its disgusting when gov services for elderly and disabled are grossly lacking.

Anyone lying about being aboriginal who went to college for free should be made to pay back the cost of that education.

The biggest racket in the country....

Everyone born here is indigenous!!!

Remove all aboriginal benefits and tick boxes. That will fix the fraud problem.

This is nothing compared to the reality of what is going on. I live in a remote indigenous community. Have done for over 20 years. Im a white fella, so as I work with and socialise with mostly black fellas, I have been asking them what’s the go with the “yes” referendum. So far not one person has a clue what any of it means. Not labourers, tradesman, elders or TOs (traditional owners who make the decisions). If the yes vote is so important, why dont the people it’s designed to help, have any clue about what it is.

Blood tests should be compulsory for anyone claiming to be aboriginal.

Why the hell would anyone claim to be one ? Oh wait must be the perks they get !

If I can identify as a woman I can certainly identify as Aboriginal.

Simply having a system in place that pays people for being different is wrong. There should be one payment for jobseekers, one payment for studying, one payment for pension, regardless of your heritage. These should be Australian payments for Australian people, black, white or indifferent. We all live in this country together and it's time for the Aboriginal peoples to forgive and move on. Their insistence of having something "separate but equal" is the problem. Separate is not equal, just ask Rosa Parks.

I might "identify" as aboriginal to reap the benefits I paid for with my taxes over working nearly 60 years. Then I can claim land rights to the block I paid for and live on - maybe.

At my Doctors, Indigenous folk get free consultations and medications. Gee, I wonder why people are claiming Indigenous status?

There are too many stan grants on the list. If they are only ten percent Aboriginal then they should be considered European

This is gold! And yes, it's been going on for years. I met a guy a while back when I was doing casual work, he claimed he was native, he wasn't, he was Nepalese! and he and his kids got everything! And he said, "Always tick 'yes' to if you're Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander, you'll get it all!". I once accidentally ticked yes on a job form, wow, not only did I get the job, but the pay was increased. I was fired when I told them that I wasn't native and that it was an accident. How rude!

Wouldn't checking someone's claims of being aboriginal before giving them benefits be protecting aboriginals??

If approximately 300k are falsly claiming to be aboriginal then identify them, arrest them for feaud & recover the taxpayers money. Over to you Albanese & Burney. Do they have the courage? No is the answer & just another reason to vote NO to the Voice.

I'm ticking the box on forms now. Maybe all 26 million of us should.

All Aussies should make the same claim to level the pitch. Job done.

If everyone is treated equal and got the same benefits and opportunities there would be no need for anyone to falsely claim they are Aboriginal

I had discussions with Mr Bolt's lawyers during his court case about testifying for him as to whether 'identity' was a choice. I am of partial aboriginal descent, 1/32 to be precise, but do not like identity politics of any kind. When I enrolled for a university course there was a box asking whether I was of aboriginal or Torres Strait islander descent. I inwardly groaned, but decided to give the factual, scientific answer, Yes. I received a letter from the university telling me that as an indigenous student, I was entitled to the following benefits... I threw the letter in the bin. I usually do not see eye to eye with Mr Bolt on political matters, but attended an IPA function in order to meet him and also met Mr Johns who was promoting an earlier book which I bought and got signatures from them both. PS I will be voting No in the referendum as I do not support any race being privileged in the constitution. Not all indigenous people are disadvantaged and not all disadvantaged people are indigenous. I do not 'identify' but some of my relatives, who are middle class, urban tertiary educated professionals do. All 'gaps' in opportunity, health etc should be closed, regardless of race.

If men can “identify” as female, then it’s on for young and old, and you can identify as whatever you like…

A late friend of mine who used to work for a commonwealth department told me 30 years ago that there was an epidemic of people doubling up for certain benefits by using tribal names and their European names and vice versa. In other words, there were tens of thousands of people taking advantage. Of course back then, computers and records were not as easy to check as they are now.

That is so funny. This isn't new. Years ago people used to joke that they classed themselves as indigenous to get free dental and free sports participation. Our neighbors were Asian and checked that they were Aboriginal or Torres Straight origin to get everything free. Given the freebies they get that non-indigenous don't get then it's easy to see why we have so many "indigenous".

As a protest. Why don't we all identify as aboriginal?

How is it possible for any Government to allow people to identify as First Nations people if they are not being tested. I am voting NO to the voice to Parliament referendum to change our Constitution, because as far as I'm concerned, we are all equal Australian citizens, regardless of race or colour.

the indigenous flag on the Harbour bridge should be joined by the flags of every country whose citizens emigrated to Australia.

I did it once just out of curiosity when I was enquiring for an online course that I was half interested in. Then i got a phone call shortly after, offering discounts, half day classes online components

The ones causing a fuss are the fake ones

you'd think Aboriginals would be sick of this. and until they demand proof of identity....they wont be taken seriously

What I find appalling is that people feel the need to lie when ticking boxes just to get the same as anyone else. It should be the same for everyone. It would do away with the need for "ticking the boxes".

Oh yes! That’s true, My brother-in-law’ ,mother full Aboriginal ,father English, left the Aboriginal land council, that’s was back in , 1990s. And why would he leave? because the majority of people were Indian - he couldn’t cope with it...There’s not that many ‘real ‘ Aboriginal s.

"nearly ‘a third’ of people claiming to be Aboriginal aren't." You think that's bad? Here in the US, 100% of Women's Sports Champions and 50% of people using Women's locker Rooms claim to be Women but aren't!!!!

People claiming Aboriginaliity should be prepared to undergo DNA testing. Be at least 51% positive.

I've started saying I'm aboriginal on form's, I haven't got any benefits from it yet but the way things are going it shouldn't be to much longer 😊🎉

First Nations people….. What does that even mean? If the only people who have ‘rights’ are the first people to set foot on a virgin continent and no one who comes after is allowed that would pretty much negate every country in the world.

The yes campaign are really scared of this issue, hence the hysteria. Those claiming other benefits show proof - giving benefits to the wrong people harms the intended recipients. This is reason enough not to go down this path.

The way this is heading, l will identify myself as part of the stolen money generation. Thanks Andrew and Sky news.

You want to close the gap? Stop all the differences between what the 2 groups are allowed…

All humans evolved in Africa. All humans are related. We are all indigenous to Africa. There are NO Indigenous Australians. The first tribe of humans that wandered onto this continent, came from somewhere else. Anthropology 101.

EVERYONE should claim to be indigenous.

There are an estimated 800,000 Australian citizens who claim Aboriginal heritage, and it's estimated that around 1/3 have no Aboriginal heritage at all. In Australia there are the following, taxpayer funded, organisations "assisting" Aboriginal people: 3,278 Aboriginal Corporations. 243 Native Title Councils. 35 Regional Councils. 122+ Aboriginal Agencies. 3 Advisory Bodies. 145 Aboriginal Health Organisations. 11 Aboriginal Members of Federal Parliament. And $34 BILLLION Per Year allocated specifically to Aboriginal needs. No wonder so many decide to be "Aboriginal". It seems that NON Aboriginals in Australia are the ones that "NEED A VOICE".

What a mess, when will it end?

They should all be charged with fraud and give all the money back

Not suprised. They just claim to be when it suits them.

And the next question is what per centre aboriginal qualifies. I'm 6th generation (1792) aboriginal but I down't claim. Unless they are living a traditional aboriginal life I don't believe a half aboriginal should be able to claim (yeah, I'm talking about you Marcia, Stan, Linda and how many others?).

I'm registering as Aboriginal, I was born here, my mum spent a lot of time in the sun ,lived in country NSW ,of course I'm aboriginal, I can feel it.

Around 1986 I met an Indian woman who had just arrived in Sydney, she told me that when she went to the early version of Centerlink she ticked all the Aboriginal boxes and was getting a small fortune from the government, I say test them, a quick non intrusive DNA test will sort it out, no tests means no more money.

Is Kenny a closet Labor communist because he certainly sounds like one . Vote NO and vote early and often .

My hairdresser years ago was married to an Aboriginal. She told me that you never have to prove you are Aboriginal, the GOVT has to prove your not! They never do!

I had a boss that used to tell everyone that he was 1/4 aboriginal, one day he got a family history genetics test and found out his grandparent he thought was aboriginal was Portuguese. Still told everyone. I guess that was easier for him than admitting the truth to everyone.

So many with ginger hair blue eyes and a white backside.

When bikies are identifying as aboriginal, and the number of births to aboriginal parents don't match the growing number identifying as aboriginal, you know something is sus.

What a bloody dishonest joke! 🤬👎👎👎 If our forebears hadn’t arrived my bet is nothing would have happened.

Fraud, fraud and then some?

Why do people want to be indigenous - the special rights?

We are all indigenous to the land we are born on. If you are born here you are an indigenous Australian! That's according to the two dictionaries I have in front of me. Look further down below (posted down further here) for the Concise Oxford dictionary definition and the Collins Dictionary for the definition of indigenous. If you are born in France.... you are indigenous to France, (according to the dictionary by its very definition!) If you are born in Germany..... you are indigenous to Germany as that is where you originated from. Don't argue with the dictionary if you don't understand the term.

Well I'm a No!! This BS has been going on forever..

I applaud the man 👏👏👏 He is actually exposing the idea of giving a certain group of people benefits and privileges over another group of people simply by their race, is a stupid, unfair aaaaand racist policy 🙄

If you make a policy about race then it can hardly be racist to check the race of the recipient to make sure they fulfil the race criteria that the policy specifies.

If the Aboriginals are doing it so tough, why do so many want to be recognized as Aboriginals. Is it because they get extra benefits over other Australians. You bet they do, and still complain.

2 Flags-NATION DIVIDED...

The laws and systems to prevent this are in place and have been for a long time. The problem is that most are unwilling to raise the subject for fear of backlash and being accused of being "racist". The very notion that someone is given preference for anything based simply on their race, is the epitome of racism. Imagine placing a job vacancy with the criteria in part saying " Must be of European descent". You would be tarred and feathered. I will be voting NO. We are either all Australians or we aren't. Everyone should be treated equally but that goes both ways.

Wow! That’s amazing! Talk about ‘pull the wool’! We have the same here in New Zealand. Same, but different!

The truth is the majority of indigenous Australians live in suburbia, living modern Western lives just like the rest of us. They have jobs, they have a modern education, speak the some language as the rest of us, don't believe in shamanic traditions, and they benefit from all the modern comforts and technological wonders as the rest of us. And if we are being honest, they also share a larger portion of European ancestry than not. So how does giving that lot a voice help the small minority who are living either traditional lives with different values or those living troubled lives in remote communities and towns? Are we really so racist as to say that if you have some smidge of other ancestry in you, you aren't one of us, you are some "other" and should be treated differently? Should an educated, middle class guy or girl who you wouldn't know was indigenous unless they told really be allowed to speak on behalf of another culture they barely know?

I know a Dutch family, complete with accents, who claimed Aboriginal benefits, and got them!!!

In these days of the imaginary instead of reality anyone can claim to be anything and no one dares to question it.

Excellent presentation. Chris Kenny talks absolute rubbish. Why aren't there more checks on people suddenly claiming to be aboriginal? Why aren't the rorters confronted and charged with fraud?

tommy mayo , is the first one to be called a FAKE

claimed aboriginality from a stepfather. How does that work ?

I know some Aussies that look like their from Scandinavian countries say their indigenous.What a bloody joke.

Vote No to fakes, and No to this voice idiocy.

There is only one race, it's called the Human Race.

51% or more, anything under means you are predominantly something else.

Thank you for pointing out this glaring rort. It’s about BLOODY time!!

I know of someone who lived in WA who travelled interstate for a few months building work. The bloke had unexpected car trouble on the way over, so he was short on cash until his job started. He went to a local welfare agency to ask for a food voucher to tie him over. The welfare agency gave him a whole bunch of stuff and gave him the names of other places where he could get additional help. He couldn't believe how generous and helpful they were. He managed without additional help but a few weeks later he mentioned what had happened to his temporary boss. That was when he found out that a mob of aborigines in that town had the same surname as his. He wasn't related to these aborigines (as far as he knows) but just having the same surname was enough to get him benefits he'd never get back in his home state.

Thank you,Andrew & Gary Johns. This must become front & centre of the current 'Voice' debate even though it will be ignored by the ABC & the cowardly msm. I will vote NO.

I agree entirely that people claiming benefits for any reason should be checked. Obtaining a benefit by misinterpretation is a crime I’m surprised that charges haven’t been laid against these fake emus.

I have pondered this question since someone I know applied to undertake a NSW TAFE Course a few years ago and was told when she applied to enroll, the course would cost $4,000. My friend said she could not afford the fees, the officer said just tick the "Are you an Aboriginal or Torrens Straight Islander", box then the course is free. She asked the enrolling officer how she would show she was indigenous asking do I need to get an Elder or someone to confirm she was of indigenous descent, pointing out she was not of Aboriginal or Torrens Straight Islander heritage. The TAFE Officer said, it does not matter just tick the box there is never any checking or request to substantiate the claim in the enrollment form

In the 70s. and 80s many people claimed Aboriginal heritage so they could get cheap house loans, housing loans were 18% but Aboriginals paid 3%

Vote yes to “identifying” as indigenous and claiming all the discounts, quotas and free stuff. That’ll make Albo vote No

I asked a relative “how do you know who is aboriginal” and she said “IT IS HOW THEY IDENTIFY”. She is intelligent, University educated and many credentials but she is “fooled”.

Jail the fakes for fraud.. Make them pay back everything they gained by prentending.

Aboriginal Australians may not be first here, and even now one tribe rejects another, so certainly not a nation! DNA suggests our brothers are from India, PNG & Indonesia. So our ancestors all came from elsewhere so let’s all say we are one, ok?

I was talking to an Aboriginal person about this issue a while ago, and he described these people who claim to be Aboriginal in the most eloquent manner as "f-ing annoying" I was almost on the ground laughing.

Back in the 90’s I was in a Centrelink office in Townsville looking to see what jobs may be available. An aboriginal gentleman obviously under the weather came in and demanded money. In those days that actually had a counter which he went straight too. The staff after a short conversation amongst themselves, gave him fifty dollars out of what seemed a petty cash tin they keep for these occasions. If I had done the same thing, the Police would have been called and I would find myself in a cell.

Apparently you just need a prominent aboriginal to vouch for you.

This is devastating. It sounds like the WEF is making progress in Australia as well as the U.S.

I knew someone many years ago who did just that, she found out that many descendants ago there was an aboriginal in her family. The family was Snow White, the blondest of hair & only one drop of blood that was aboriginal. This mother claimed for her kids schooling & whatever she could get her hands on, did this for years & years. Disgusting. 👿👿

If 2 kids are born in the same country both from generations of Australian citizens than they are both technically indigenous Australians

When hiring an aboriginal for an aboriginal only job all they ask you is "Are you aboriginal?" and if the answer is yes you are in. The BS has to stop so that genuinely in need people get the help.

OMG and this is just the tip of the iceberg. This must be infuriating for actual Aboriginal people, they should be very angry with these imposters.

An aboriginal lady once told me that the dentist told her that she had teeth similar to Aboriginal people, that’s enough for some people 💯

My aboriginal mate told me to do it years ago, i thought he was joking,

I agree with him. If we are to be separated by race then the race which will get more benefits than others should be tested

IN LEGALESE ,, ''FIRST'' (NATIONS) MEANS 'PRIMARY' OR 'MAIN' . NON ABORIGINALS LITERALLY BE SECOND CLASS CITIZENS. VOTE NO. NO VOICE. NO REPUBLIC.