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Church leaders call on Rudd govt to act on UN's findings
Tuesday, 1 September 2009
10:00:21 AM
By Tara Ravens
NATIONAL, September 1, 2009: Church leaders in the Northern Territory are calling on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to act on the damning criticisms of a UN expert on Indigenous rights.
The UN's Special Rapporteur James Anaya last week described the controversial intervention into remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory and their impact on the communities as "overtly discriminatory".
He singled out compulsory welfare income management, land takeovers and alcohol bans as evidence of the double standards that exist in Australia, and called on Labor to reinstate the Racial Discrimination Act.
The professor's findings have prompted the Anglican Bishop of the Northern Territory, Greg Thompson, to call on the Rudd government to reform the controversial measures.
"(Do) not diminish the spirit of the apology by subverting universal human rights of first Australians in the Northern Territory," he said in a statement.
"Such a policy foundation based on coercion is a return to the repertoires of colonisation.
If the commonwealth was working with an `end justifies the means' approach, Bishop Thompson said it was up to the public to ask: "what are the ends that have been justified in the last 26 months?"
Despite millions of dollars in federal funds being spent since 2007, Prof Anaya found the intervention was "not working".
Among his more damning assertions were that the measures, launched under the guise of combating child sex abuse, are incompatible with Australia's obligation's under three international treaties.
"The visit from Professor James Anaya has given our government the opportunity to openly review its current policies and its international obligations to Aboriginal people," said Catholic Bishop Eugene Hurley of the Diocese of Darwin.
Michelle Harris, a spokeswoman for the activist group Concerned Australians, said the commonwealth needed to act to save the nation's international reputation.
"The world is watching," she said.
"We rely on Prime Minister Rudd to ensure that we can feel proud that Australia is prepared to make the required changes to conform to global standards."
Bishop Thompson also backed Prof Anaya's calls for strong Indigenous leadership.
"We need national bipartisan leadership that secures a healthy future for children without the destruction of Indigenous leadership," he said. - AAP
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