home | news l

Queen in fight for bones

By Glenn Milne

Indigenous delegation Natural History Museum London 2007 photo courtesy Kevin Brown

29 April 2007 - THE Queen has been dragged into an embarrassing row with the Federal Government over the return of Aboriginal remains to Australia.

The monarch's personal solicitors have targeted one of Australia's most respected judges, who had been engaged to try to end the impasse over the remains.

The Tasmanian Aboriginal Council has engaged Australian international human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson and former New South Wales Supreme Court Justice Sir Laurence Street to try to get the skeletal artefacts back to Australia.

The Queen's solicitors were retained by the British Natural History Museum, which agreed in November last year to return the remains, including skulls taken from Tasmania by British colonialists in the 19th century.

But the museum is now arguing it has the right to experiment on the skeletons before their return, a move resisted by the Tasmanian Aboriginal Council with the support of the Federal Government.

Attorney-General Philip Ruddock announced recently that Sir Laurence, who this year conducted a review into a death in custody on Palm Island, had been engaged by Australia as an official mediator in the case.

But it has now emerged that the British side, using the Queen's solicitors, tried to scuttle Sir Laurence's appointment by questioning his impartiality.

The solicitors discovered Sir Laurence's mother, Jessie Street, was an early campaigner for Aboriginal rights in Australia.

Like Sir Laurence, both his father and grandfather served as NSW Chief Justice and Mr Robertson – a world-renowned human rights lawyer – has described Sir Laurence as "the best mediator in the world".

Sources close to Sir Laurence confirmed last night that the lawyer who had tried to question his impartiality had been "sat on" and the Queen's firm of solicitors had now been "sidelined".

It's understood Sir Laurence responded to the British claims by pointing to the fact that his judicial lineage far outweighed the trait of social activism in his family and he was eminently qualified to take on the role on behalf of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Council.

In February this year, the council – designated by the Tasmanian Supreme Court as the remain's custodian – took out an injunction to stop the museum experimenting on the bones.

After a preliminary hearing on February 22, the museum agreed to enter into a mediation process, which is due to begin on Wednesday.

Having overcome the British objections to his appointment, Sir Laurence leaves for London today.

Source: The Courier Mail

Further information: repatriation issues page - includes news index and external links

|| click to go to the top of this page