PRESS RELEASE
Government Racism Is Not Sustainable
The Howard Government will be forced to change its approach to Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander Peoples before the Olympic
Games.
This is the view of the National Indigenous Working Group on Native Title
(NIWG), as representatives of NIWG attend as observer at
the meeting of the International Committee on the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination (CERD) in Geneva.
Today the Committee will consider the case of Australia, which has already been
found to have breached the International Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination when it legislated the
1998 amendments to the Native Title Act.
At its previous session, in March this year, CERD determined that Australia
breached the Convention and called upon Australia to
suspend the Native Title Amendment Act 1998 and enter into negotiations with the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
The Australian Government, since March, has refused to accept the findings of
the Committee and has engaged in extensive political
campaigning to pressure CERD to alter its findings.
NIWG considers that the Australian Government now faces pressures from many
fronts including:
- the findings by CERD that Australia has racist laws;
- international concern over Jabiluka uranium mining, and the indigenous rights
of the Mirrar Peoples;
- the meagre proposals to alter the Australian Constitution, which do not embody
preceding Indigenous rights or redress discriminatory
aspects of the Constitution;
- the cases of the stolen generations of Aborigines and Torres Strait
Islanders; and
the atrophy of the Reconciliation agenda in Australia.
Deputy Chairperson for NIWG, Les Malezer, said that the Australian Government
has taken the wrong path by setting out to decimate
recent gains made in the recognition and exercise of the human rights of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
The Australian Government will continue to be judged by the international
community as long as it embraces acts of racial
discrimination he said.
Australia has a high profile, not least because a) it is a rich and privileged
nation enjoying the highest standards of living; b) it has a
worldwide reputation for being a white, colonial nation founded on the unjust
theft of Aboriginal lands; and c) it is hosting the Year
2000 Olympics.
Other governments may feel the embarrassment of association with a racist
government like Australia.
Although the Australian Government considers that it can use its considerable
affluence to divert attention away from its racist policies,
its sphere of influence is diminishing Les Malezer said.
Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders are choosing to talk to
other government, non government organisations and
overseas populations about their plight in Australia.
NIWG strongly advocates that the Australian Government should accept NIWGs
standing offer to enter into negotiations in good
faith.
A significant precedent has just been established in Queensland where the
Beattie Government and the Queensland Indigenous
Working Group have signed an agreement aimed as cooperative and purposeful
negotiations for legislative and administrative reforms
for the Indigenous Peoples.
NIWG urges the Australian Government to immediately follow this course of
action, for the immediate and future good of the nation
and all the peoples.
If the Prime Minister, John Howard, is personally opposed to negotiations it is
up to all other politicians to establish a fair and
non-racist government in Australia Les Malezer said.
***
CONTACT: Pam Jones - 0419 648154 (mobile); 07 33914677 (office)
___
Les Malezer
General Manager
FAIRA Aboriginal Corporation
Deputy Chairperson
National Indigenous Working Group on Native Title
NIWG
Attending:
Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination
and Protection of Minorities
United Nations
Geneva
Mobile: + 61 419 710720
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
URL: http://www.faira.org.au
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