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Major Political Parties need to lift their game on Reconciliation and Indigenous Affairs

7 November 2001- ANTaR - Media Release - A national organisation at the centre of the "peoples' movement" for reconciliation, has surveyed the Indigenous policies of the major political parties in the lead up to Saturday's Federal Election.

"The results indicate that there is a clear choice when it comes to Indigenous affairs policies between the major parties”, said Phil Glendenning, National President of ANTaR.

"The Coalition's policy confirms its assimilationist and paternalistic ‘practical reconciliation’ approach to Indigenous Affairs”, he said. “If returned, the Coalition offers the bleak prospect of a further stifled Reconciliation process, already stalled after 6 years of the divisive Howard Government”, he said.

The ALP’s policy is moving in the right direction, but shows a hesitancy to comprehensively address the ‘unfinished business’ of Reconciliation as provided by the final recommendations of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation," he continued.

"However, both Democrats and the Greens have embraced the recommendations of the Council and their policies show an understanding of the work ahead which involves Indigenous-led solutions developed through good faith negotiations and agreement," said Mr Glendenning.

ANTaR has also released a report card on the performance of the Howard Government over its first two terms.

“Despite Mr Howard’s promise on the election night in 1998 to make Reconciliation a priority for his government’s second term, he has proved to be the least supportive Prime Minister on Indigenous issues in our lifetime”, Mr Glendenning said.

ANTAR says it is not advocating a vote for any one of the political parties in this weekend's federal poll, but urges all voters to think about Reconciliation when they vote.

ANTaR is also urging voters to support Indigenous candidates in the election.

The results of the ANTaR survey and details of Indigenous candidates have been included in the organisation's Federal Election Kit which is also available on ANTaR’s website at http://www.antar.org.au

related links:

• Australian Election 2001
• Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation
• Aboriginal candidates are few, but determined
  Four out of five Labor Aboriginal candidates may have been elected at the recent NT poll, but at the federal level there is still little indigenous representation. And safe seats for indigenous aspirants are few and far between.
• Black list opens road to parliament
  NSW Labor has never sent an Aboriginal politician to either Canberra or Macquarie Street but the weekend endorsement by the ALP State conference to give indigenous candidates a 20 per cent weighting in preselection contests is aimed at redressing that fact, initially at the local government level.
• Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation (ANTaR): The Failure of Practical Reconciliation (pdf, 30Kb)
  
• Excerpt from leader's debate
  ".. Not while I'm PM. Could I just finish? I think a treaty is divisive. A treaty is something one country makes with another .."

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