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Wik Bill slammed as racist by British MP

19 February 1998 - National Indigenous Working Group - Media Release - The Chairman of a British Parliamentary Group has labeled John Howard's Wik Bill as racist.

Senior Labour MP Bernie Grant spoke out last night after a special meeting at which the All Party Parliamentary Group on Race and Community quizzed Australian High Commissioner Dr Neal Blewett over the controversial Bill.

Mr. Grant, who chairs the Group, said, "It's fair to say that the MPs were not impressed by the current Government's position - its going to deny Aborigines their rights."

When asked if the Bill was racist, Mr. Grant replied, "I think that would be a fair thing to say."

Mr. Grant also vowed to step up the pressure on the British Government to speak out against the Bill, saying that he would be putting questions on the issue to the Foreign Secretary in the House of Commons.

Mr. Grant's comments completed an uncomfortable evening for Dr Blewett. At the meeting, he had given the All Party Group a long and legalistic justification for the Bill only to face some pointed questions over its racially discriminatory effects.

The All Party Group were critical of a number of the Bill's provisions, including the controversial "sunset clause" and the new eligibility test. The Group noted that these provisions would deny indigenous peoples access to formal land claims and negotiation procedures. Some MP's voiced concern that this would leave many peoples without any meaningful rights to their ancestral lands. Some members of the Group told Dr Blewett of their fears over Mr. Howard's threat to fight a so-called "race election".

An NIWG observer at the meeting said, "The British MPs were not impressed by Dr Blewett's attempt to blind them with science. If anything, this meeting has actually confirmed what they thought before: that the Howard Bill is racist."

The special meeting represented Dr Blewett's right to reply after a delegation of Aboriginal leaders from the NIWG addressed the All Party Group last October. Dr Blewett would not comment after the meeting.

This media release is from the National Indigenous Working Group on Native Title (NIWG)

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