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'Government approach to reconciliation lacks direction and accountability' states Social Justice Commissioner

27 September 2002 - Media Release Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Dr Bill Jonas, has expressed disappointment at the federal Government's response to the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation's blueprint for reconciliation.

The Government's response was released on Thursday 26 September 2002, almost 22 months after the Council released its final report and more than 28 months after the release of the Australian Declaration Towards Reconciliation and Roadmap towards reconciliation at Corroborree 2000.

Dr Jonas welcomed the Government's commitment to work collaboratively with States and Territories to address Indigenous disadvantage through the framework of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG), through the COAG Communiqué of November 2000 and recently announced initiatives for trialing whole of government approaches in ten sample communities. 'These initiatives are of vital significance for the improvement of Indigenous livelihoods,' Dr Jonas stated.

Dr Jonas also welcomed the Government's support for processes to acknowledge the special place of Indigenous peoples in the life and history of Australia in Commonwealth ceremonies and for a referendum to repeal section 25 of the Constitution. 'Despite these positive features, I remain concerned that the government's response demonstrates a distinct lack of commitment and direction to making reconciliation a reality into the future,' said Dr Jonas.

'We have waited nearly two years for an official response to the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation's agenda and for a detailed programme of implementation for the reconciliation process. What we have now got is underwhelming and minimal. The government spent more time detailing what it is opposed to rather than what it is committed to.'

'Even on issues that are compatible with the Government's extremely limited 'practical reconciliation' agenda, we have been provided with nothing more than generalised statements of commitment. After six years of practical reconciliation, where are the targets, benchmarks and performance monitoring frameworks?'

'These have been promised for some time. Without them, the government remains unaccountable for the rate of progress in addressing Indigenous disadvantage.'

'I am particularly disturbed by the ongoing failure of the government to spell out in explicit, clear terms what it is committed to achieving. What are its expectations for addressing Indigenous health, education, housing and employment issues? What is the actual rate of progress that it considers would be satisfactory given the level of expenditure? Within what timeframe does it expect to have achieved lasting improvements across a variety of economic indicators? We do not know the answer to any of these questions' said Dr Jonas.

'From the work of the Reconciliation Council and the recommendations of the Commonwealth Grants Commission's 2001 report on indigenous funding need, it is clear that the Government has an unprecedented level of information at its disposal to commit to detailed plans of action for implementing its agenda' said Dr Jonas.

Dr Jonas also expressed concern at the treatment of the human rights components of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation's agenda throughout the government's response. 'The Government's claims about the current level of protection of Indigenous peoples human rights is extravagant and in some instances simply untrue. There is a large gulf between the reality of enjoyment of rights by Indigenous people and the claims of the government' said Dr Jonas.

Dr Jonas expressed hope that the current inquiry of the Senate Legal and Constitutional References Committee into national progress towards reconciliation would address the deficiencies in the Government's current approach.

The inquiry, established in August this year in response to Dr Jonas' Social Justice Report 2001, will examine inter-governmental funding arrangements, benchmarking, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms, as well as the consistency of the Government's approach with the aspirations of Indigenous peoples.

Media release from: HEREOC

Government Response to Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation Final Report

Speech to Australian Senate
Senator Aden Ridgeway, Australian Democrats

15th October 2002

Thank you Mr President,

I would like to briefly comment on the Government's response to the Final Report of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation to the Parliament.

Overall, the Australian Democrats are very disappointed with this very minimalist response. Considering that the CAR Report contained only 6 recommendations, and that only part of one of these recommendations has been responded to, we question the adequacy of the government's response on what we regard as one of the most significant social issues confronting Australia.

By aiming at a lowest common denominator position on reconciliation - one that fails to take up the challenges or commit to the implementation of the Roadmap developed by the Council after 10 years of national consultations - the Australian Democrats are concerned that:

• i) reconciliation is no longer being treated by the Commonwealth as an issue of national importance; and
• ii) as a result of this relegation to the 'too hard basket' by thisgovernment, we question whether we can still say with confidence that reconciliation enjoys full cross party support in this Parliament, as it did 10 years ago when the enabling legislation for the Council was passed.

As the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Mr Bill Jonas has commented, the Howard Government's commitment to 'practical reconciliation' means practically nothing to Indigenous Australians.

To use Commissioner Jonas' own words,

Practical reconciliation amounts to 'business as usual'. It involves little innovation or change to service delivery arrangements to address Indigenous marginalisation in a holistic manner. It simply manages the inequality that Indigenous peoples experience, rather than providing a detailed, comprehensive plan for overcoming this disadvantage. It is a cruel illusion of equality that perpetuates Indigenous peoples' position at the bottom rungs of our society.

In light of this response from the Government today, it is obvious that it is not prepared to take up the leadership challenge that the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation identified it must, if we are to achieve true and lasting reconciliation in this country.

For example, where is:

1. The legislation to enshrine the principles contained in the Australian Declaration Towards Reconciliation and the Roadmap for Reconciliation, as recommended by the Council?
   The Commonwealth has publicly distanced itself from the Documents of Reconciliation and rejected key elements of them.
   As it has in so many other areas of Indigenous Affairs, the Government clearly considers it appropriate to 'cherry pick' from the recommendations from the Council, and to pursue only those that it considers the most benign, harmless and risk free.
   The clear message from the Commonwealth to the thousands of Australian people who contributed to the development of these documents over the last decade is that their views and aspirations do not count.
   They, together with the members of CAR, participated and contributed in good faith and as requested by this Parliament - only to have their input and recommendations shelved by the Government for 20 months, and then given this less than comprehensive response.
2. Where are the performance benchmarks and measurable timelines that COAG and MCATSIA were to develop so that we can ensure we are making real progress towards the elimination of Indigenous disadvantage in all its forms.
   Minister Ruddock's explanation that the Commonwealth doesn't have the data to begin to measure Indigenous disadvantage, let alone develop benchmarks for its reduction - after 35 years of Commonwealth responsibility in this area - is an appalling indictment of Government neglect of its responsibilities in relation to the Indigenous citizens of this country.
3. Where is the Government's commitment to a timeline for a referendum to remove s.25 of the Constitution because of its overtly racist intent?
4. Where is the Government's commitment to replace this provision with a section that will enshrine the principle of non-discrimination on racial grounds in our national Constitution?
5. Where is the Government's preparedness to consider legislation that will facilitate a national discussion about how to bring about a national agreement or treaty to settle the many outstanding matters that stand in the way of reconciliation.

On behalf of the Australian Democrats, I have tabled this legislation as a private members' bill, but neither the Government nor the ALP has taken any steps to support its passage into legislation.

The one area where the Government has shown some preparedness to step outside the strict confines of 'practical reconciliation' is in relation to its recognition of Indigenous protocols. But even here, recognition is tightly constrained to incorporation of Indigenous protocols on "certain occasions" and in "certain ceremonies".

For example, the Commonwealth is prepared to: - acknowledge country "on certain ceremonial occasions and appropriate public events", and - even to acknowledge "the special place of Indigenous people in the life and history of Australia" at citizenship ceremonies (which I might add was recommended by the Democrats in our response to the Report of the Australian Citizenship Council).

At the same time, the Commonwealth is not prepared to incorporate Indigenous protocols into the opening ceremony for this parliament.

I cannot understand why this parliament - the people's house - is not regarded as an "appropriate ceremony" in which to acknowledge the important place and status of Indigenous people in the life of the nation.

Based on the unanimous recommendation of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Procedure in August last year, which recommended the incorporation of Australian Indigenous ceremonies into the opening of the Parliament - I think the Government is out of step with broader community sentiment on this issue.

Australians have been very happy to celebrate Indigenous cultures and identities in major showcase events like the Sydney Olympics - to the display on national icons like Qantas jumbos - why does this Government continue think it "inappropriate" that we recognise Indigenous people in this Parliament?

Parliaments in countries like Canada, New Zealand and South Africa already show this respect to their Indigenous Peoples - yet in 2002, the ceremony to open the Australian Parliament remains virtually unchanged since the first Parliament sat in 1901.

In conclusion - this brief and response to a decade of work makes is very obvious that this Government is not prepared to take up the leadership challenge that the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation identified it must, if we are to achieve true and lasting reconciliation in this country.

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