LL:ART: Editorial -- WHERE THE HOWARD GOVERNMENT IS HEADING

[Communist Party of Australia]

The following Editorial was published in "The Guardian", newspaper
of the Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday,
September 6th, 2000. Contact address: 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills.
Sydney. 2010 Australia. Phone: (612) 9212 6855 Fax: (612) 9281 5795.
CPA Central Committee: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
"The Guardian": <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Webpage: http://www.cpa.org.au>
Subscription rates on request.
******************************

Editorial: Where the Howard Government is heading

Infantile, appalling, petulant, incredible, narrow-minded are
just some of the adjectives used in the torrent of criticism that
has met the Federal Government's decision to wind-back its
relations with the various sub-committees of the United Nations.

Particularly revealing is its decision not to ratify an optional
protocol regarding discrimination against women that would allow
complaints of discrimination to be heard by a UN committee. This
decision not only illustrates the Howard Government's attitude to
the UN but also to women's issues within Australia. It may have
been sparked by its blindly stupid decision to override the right
of a single or lesbian woman to assisted fertilisation.

The Government's attack on UN committees comes just as the United
Nations General Assembly opens in New York. The session was
preceded by a meeting of NGOs attended by UN Secretary-General
Kofi Annan and the President of the UN General Assembly.

Speaking to the meeting of the NGOs Kofi Annan said, "You are our
best defence against complacency, our bravest campaigners for
honesty and our boldest crusaders for change". He pledged to
provide non-government organisations with greater access to the
world body.

But there is more to the Australian Government's actions than
just petulance in the face of the severe criticism that the
government has received over the issues of the stolen
generations, mandatory sentencing, women's rights, native title
rights, and Aboriginal health issues. The Government's first
response is to dismiss the criticism and to shoot the messenger.

Its second response is to restrict the visits of representatives
of UN bodies and to provide information only when "there is a
compelling reason to do so". This is an attempt to slam the doors
and pull down the blinds. But what happens in Australia can no
more be hidden from the eyes of the world's TV cameras and the
Internet than what happens in other countries can be hidden.

Inherent in the Government's actions is an attack on the NGOs
that play a prominent role in the political life of many
countries today as critics and lobbyists. They provide a voice
and a means of activity for tens of thousands of people on many
important community issues.

The Australian Government has launched a campaign in the UN,
together with other "like-minded" states, to change the rules
concerning UN committees so that whatever governments say will be
given precedence over the submissions of NGOs.

If such an attitude is to be pushed in the UN, how long will it
be before a similar restrictive and repressive attitude is taken
within Australia? Attempts to limit the effectiveness of NGOs are
already to be seen in the Government's cuts to the funding of the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission. ATSIC has taken
its criticisms to various UN bodies and it is this that the
Government is attempting to stifle.

The Government's arguments are an appeal to the unthinking and
isolationist part of the electorate and it is worthwhile
recalling that Pauline Hanson's One Nation voiced just such
sentiments. In many respects, Howard has taken over her agenda.

The question of a reform of the United Nations is high on the
agenda of the current meeting of the General Assembly and it is
possible that the Security Council may be enlarged to include
some Third World countries as permanent members. This could
effectively break down the up to now, predominant weight of
Europe and the United States in the UN.

This development would not be to the liking of these countries
and it would fuel the already existing tendency for the US and
others to by-pass the UN as was done in the illegal war against
Yugoslavia, or the continued bombing of Iraq and the open
interference into the internal affairs of many countries.

The Australian Government's present actions are a signal that it
could shun the UN altogether if the organisation adopts policies
that go against its arrogantly expressed interests and opinions.

Such a course would not only justify the charges of being
infantile and narrow-minded, it would be highly dangerous for the
people of Australia as well as for Australia's relations with the
rest of the world and its standing in the international
community.

*****************************************************************

--

           Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List
                            mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
        Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/

Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop
Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink
Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink