GOVT RULES OUT INTERVENTION From AAP 25mar00 The federal Government has firmly ruled out overriding mandatory sentencing laws and says it's lodged a formal complaint with the United Nations over its damning report on race relations in Australia. Federal Attorney-General Daryl Williams says the report by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) was completely unbalanced. Mr Williams says the report, which was released last night in Geneva, failed to make any reference to Australian government representation. While the government has concern about the impact of mandatory sentencing on juveniles, particularly in the Northern Territory, he says it's addressing those issues domestically. He says the damning United Nations report on mandatory sentencing laws calls the author's credibility into question. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination says mandatory sentencing laws discriminate against indigenous Australians and conflict with UN conventions on human rights. In draft observations issued in Geneva, the committee listed 13 concerns, including high incarceration rates of Aborigines and amendments to native title laws. It also made 15 recommendations, including that the federal government override Northern Territory and Western Australian laws if necessary. But Mr Williams says the committee should reconsider its report. He's told ABC radio the committee should reconsider its report and take a more balanced view. Philip Ruddock, the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister on Reconciliation, also rejected the report, saying the report was not a fair and accurate view of Australia's performance. But federal opposition leader Kim Beazley says the UN was responsible for making judgements about human rights across the world and Australians sign up to that role. *** Override sentencing laws: Melham From AAP 25mar00 OPPOSITION Aboriginal Affairs spokesman Daryl Melham says the federal Government should override mandatory sentencing laws to save Australia's international reputation. The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has said mandatory sentencing laws discriminate against indigenous Australians and conflict with UN conventions on human rights. They've issued a report calling on the government to override the laws. Mr Melham says the report is factual and balanced and makes well-founded criticisms of incarceration rates of indigenous Australians and of native title laws. He says the government has no choice but to override the laws in the face of the country's diminishing reputation abroad. Mr Melham says it's hypocritical for the government to have intervened and overturned euthanasia laws but not mandatory sentencing laws. He says it costs the Australian taxpayer $120,000 a year for every juvenile jailed and $60,000 for every adult. *** Don't ignore UN report: Nelson From AAP 25mar00 LIBERAL MP Brendan Nelson says a damning United Nations report critical of mandatory sentencing laws shouldn't be ignored. Dr Nelson, the head of a Senate Inquiry Committee for Mandatory Sentencing, has told Sky TV the UN should never be ignored. The UN's top race committee last night issued a report which called on the federal government to review mandatory sentencing laws in Western Australia and the Northern Territory. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination said mandatory sentencing laws discriminated against indigenous Australians and conflicted with the UN conventions on human rights. Dr Nelson says it shouldn't take a report from the United Nations to show that mandatory sentencing is wrong. He says the report will put a little bit more pressure on the territorial government to work at the social and economic reasons behind juvenile crime. He says the issue of why youths turn to crime should be researched. -- _________________________________ Truth is a pathless land. --- Krishnamurti ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------ RecOzNet2 has a page @ http://www.green.net.au/recoznet2 and is archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/ To unsubscribe from this list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED], and in the body of the message, include the words: unsubscribe announce or click here mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20announce This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." RecOzNet2 is archived for members @ http://www.mail-archive.com/recoznet2%40paradigm4.com.au/
