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Democrats Highlight Govt's Shameful Record on Indigenous Affairs here and at the UN

11 August 2004 - Senator Aden Ridgeway Media Release - The International Decade of the Worlds Indigenous Peoples has been marked in Australia by declining living standards for Indigenous Australians and a worsening relationship with the Federal Government, say the Australian Democrats.

"The Senate today passed a Democrats motion noting that John Howard's Coalition Government had overseen the deteriorating situation of Indigenous Australians for 8 years of the International Decade of the Worlds Indigenous Peoples," said Democrats Indigenous Affairs spokesperson, Senator Aden Ridgeway.

Senator Ridgeway said the decade was closing with Australia still attempting to remove any language of self-determination from the UN Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

"We call on the Government to immediately abandon its alternative Draft Declaration and to engage with Indigenous people about important issues here and in overseas forums rather than imposing its ideology from behind closed doors."

The Text of the Democrats' motion that passed the Senate today:

That the Senate -

a) Notes that 9 August 2004 was International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, and that this is the final year of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, which commenced in 1995. The theme of the decade was: "Indigenous people - partnership in action", with the focus on strengthening international cooperation for the solution of problems faced by Indigenous people in such areas as human rights, the environment, development, education and health.

b) Notes that John Howard's Coalition has been in Government for 8 of the 10 years in which the human rights of Indigenous people have been an international focus and that in those last 8 years:

1. the gap between the life expectancy of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians has widened;
2. Indigenous Australians continue to suffer from ill health at drastically higher rates than non-Indigenous Australians, for example Indigenous people suffer from rates of middle ear infections over 4 times the rate determined by the World Health Organisation to be a national health emergency.
3. the rates of imprisonment of Indigenous Australians have grown in proportion to non-Indigenous Australians;
4. the ratio of Indigenous to non-Indigenous university students has declined;
5. amendments to the Native Title Act have further diminished Indigenous land rights.

c) Notes that self-determination is a human right enshrined in International Law; that services to Indigenous people are most effective when they are controlled and run by Indigenous people; and that Indigenous self-determination in Australia has been attacked by the Howard government's mainstreaming approach.

d) Notes that Australia is the only State which has spoken in the inter-sessional Working Group against the inclusion of any language of self-determination in the Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

e) Calls on the government to immediately abandon its alternative Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, as it contravenes the basic anti-discrimination principles of the common article 2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and International Covenant on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights.

f) Calls on the government to engage in constructive dialogue with Indigenous groups in Australia, and to ensure that any proposal to alter the current text of the Draft Declaration adheres to the principles espoused by Mick Dodson in 1996, namely: the proposal must be reasonable, necessary and strengthen the existing text, and accord with the principles of equality, non-discrimination and the absolute prohibition of racial discrimination.

Source: Australian Democrats

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