Constitution must protect against racism

ALL citizens should be protected from racial discrimination, a federal committee on constitutional recognition for indigenous people has heard.

THE federal government must never be able to remove the protection for citizens of the Racial Discrimination Act, the Northern Territory's opposition leader says.

THE Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples heard evidence in Darwin on Wednesday on the importance of recognising the first peoples in the constitution, and on the removal of sections which allow the passing of laws that discriminate against people based on their race.