-----Original Message----- From: Webcentral <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >ATSIC CHAIRMAN JOINS EAST TIMOR'S FIRST MAY DAY CELEBRATIONS > > >I will celebrate May Day in Dili at the invitation of the newly independent >East Timorese community. > >This is a great opportunity for ATSIC, the national organisation of >Indigenous Australians, to demonstrate solidarity with the East Timorese >peoples fight for self-determination. I am promoting a 'peoples to peoples' >relationship, where we can establish dialogue as neighbours with shared >cultures. > >The Indigenous peoples of Australia and the East Timorese have traditional >links which pre-date white settlement of Australia. Our cultural >relationship still continues. Aboriginal groups in the Northern Territory >including ATSIC offices are already offering assistance to the newly >emerging nation of East Timor. > >There are many issues of common ground between the East Timorese and >Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, particularly the fight for >self-determination, encompassing the challenges of overcoming unemployment, >poor health and inadequate housing. > >Self determination for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is an >issue which is not readily acknowledged by most Australians, but it is >central to our argument to develop in our own way and at our own pace. (see >attached ATSIC Issues Sheet) > >The East Timorese, like us, face continuing struggles to win cultural, land >and economic independence. > >Both of our peoples share significant economic challenges of the present and >the future, such as outrageously high levels of unemployment. > >In Australia our unemployment rate is more than 50 per cent, including our >people on the "work for the dole" Community Development Employment Projects. >More than 90 per cent of East Timorese workers are without jobs following >the devastation left by the Indonesian forces of occupation. > >In exercising self-determination, Indigenous representatives in East Timor >and Australia are acutely aware of the links between economic reform and >human rights outcomes such as, for example, the urgent need to create >substantially more jobs to enable social development. > >They are also aware of how our peoples are prone to exploitation by >foreign-owned companies. > >This is why we must encourage workers and the poor to organise through >unions and their political structures. Our peoples must be given confidence >to overcome oppression and seclusion. > >For many years the East Timorese and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander >peoples have been waging their struggles in parallel but in isolation. It >is my intention to forge closer links, as peoples, so that we can share and >benefit from our experiences and knowledge for the challenges ahead. > >There is no more fitting day than May Day - an international celebration of >working people's achievements - to take the first steps in this shared >journey. > >Geoff Clark >ATSIC Chairman > >30 April 2000 > > Further information: Francine Chinn (In Dili) 0419 819 025 > ATSIC NT Office of Public Affairs > (Note: Dili is two hours behind AEST) > > > >ATSIC and Self-determination > > >ATSIC's vision is of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and >communities freely exercising our legal, economic, social cultural and >political rights. > >Our vision was formulated following widespread consultation with Indigenous >people. > >The ATSIC Act provides a structure to enable Indigenous communities, through >their elected representatives, to make decisions about programs and policies >for their social, economic and cultural advancement at both the national and >regional levels. > >Since 1972 the policy of self-determination for Indigenous peoples has had >widespread acceptance in Australia. > >This policy followed the earlier policies of Extermination, Protection and >Assimilation. > >In 1990 the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal >Affairs defined self-determination as: > > Aboriginal control over the decision-making process as well >as control over the ultimate decision about a wide range of matters >including political status, and economic, social and cultural development. >It means Aboriginal people having the resources and the capacity to control >the future of their own communities within the legal structure common to all >Australians. > >In 1991 the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody recommended >that: > > governments negotiate with appropriate Aboriginal >organisations and communities to determine guidelines as to the procedures >and processes which should be followed to ensure that the self-determination >principle is applied in the design and implementation of any policy or >program or the substantial modification of any policy or program which will >substantially affect Aboriginal people. > >This recommendation was accepted by the Commonwealth and all State and >Territory Governments. > >The Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs now advocates >a policy of 'self empowerment'. It differs, he says, from >self-determination in that "it is a means to an end...rather than an end in >itself". > >This policy was announced by the Minister without any consultation with the >elected representatives of Indigenous peoples. > > It does not have the support of Indigenous peoples. > >In late July 1998 it was reported that Cabinet had decided to downgrade >Australian support for the language of 'self-determination' in the United >Nations Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to that of >'self management'. > >This decision was taken without any consultation with Indigenous peoples. >ATSIC is strongly opposed to this policy change because it denies Indigenous >peoples a fundamental right which is enjoyed by all other peoples. ATSIC >remains committed to the principles of the Draft Declaration on the Rights >of Indigenous Peoples. > >Self-determination is recognised in International Law in Articles 1 of the >International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the >International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), >both of which Australia is a signatory to: > > All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue >of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue >their economic social and cultural development. > >ATSIC's "social justice package" submission in 1995 in part states: > > There is no right more fundamental for Indigenous people >than that of self-determination. It is central to addressing the general >disadvantage and oppressed condition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait >Islander peoples. It underlies the establishment, the functions and the >operations of ATSIC and the Regional Councils. ... the right of >self-determination underpins a variety of broader goals and objectives, >including: > > * an entitlement to land and compensation for >dispossession; > * recognition of customary law; > * the reassertion and development of community self >governance; > * the negotiation of flexible forms of self >government; > * the negotiation of involvement in Commonwealth, >State/Territory and local Government policy, planning and service delivery; > * the development of an Indigenous economic base; > * sharing in the mineral and other resources of the >land; > * collective rights in relation to the protection of >sites and cultural property; > * the authority to negotiate a treaty or document of >reconciliation. > >In summary, in his first annual report as the former Aboriginal and Torres >Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Mick Dodson stated: > > [T]he crucial importance of self-determination to Aboriginal >and Torres Strait Islander peoples is little appreciated by non-indigenous >Australians. Correctly understood, every issue concerning the historical and >present status, entitlements, treatment and aspirations of Aboriginal and >Torres Strait Islander peoples is implicated in the concept of >self-determination. The reason for this lies in the fact that >self-determination is a process. The right of self-determination is a right >to make decisions. These decisions affect the enjoyment and exercise of the >full range of freedoms and human rights of indigenous peoples. > >ATSIC will continue to advocate on behalf of all Indigenous peoples in >Australia for the right to be self-determining and will resist any return to >the paternalistic policies of the past which have been the direct cause of >the decimation of our communities. > > > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------ 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." 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