Statement by Ambassador Andrew Goledzinowski, Deputy Permanent Representative of Australia to the United Nations Third Committee regarding Indigenous issues, as delivered on 20 October 2009.
(as delivered)
The Australian Government has taken significant steps to build a new relationship with Indigenous Australians built on mutual respect and good faith. We value this opportunity to update this Committee on recent developments in Australia.
On 13 February last year Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, in addressing the national parliament offered a motion of Apology to Australia’s Indigenous Peoples. In doing so he acknowledged the legacy of trauma and grief in Aboriginal and Torres Islander communities as a result of colonisation, forced removals and other past government policies. This apology marked the beginning of a new relationship between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous Australians, where reconciliation, healing and new hope was possible.
To address underlying grief and trauma in Indigenous communities, funding has been committed to a new Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Healing Foundation.
This year on 3 April Australia has announced its support for the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people, Professor James Anaya, recently visited Australia on invitation from the Australian Government. We look forward to giving due consideration to his full report when it is released.
Our efforts to reset the relationship have been backed by an unprecedented level of new investment to Close the Gap in living standards between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Objective benchmarks and targets have been developed and the Prime Minister has committed himself to report to the first session of parliament each year on progress in achieving those goals.
* Australian Governments will invest $5.5 billion over ten years in remote area Indigenous housing.
* Over $800 million will be invested over four years to prevent and better manage chronic disease.
* Over six years $291.2 million will be invested to address the needs of remote communities, working in partnership with Indigenous peoples.
I could continue to cite figures on measures Australia is taking to closing the gap on Indigenous disadvantage but the message is that the Government recognises Australia still has a long way to go to undo the decades of neglect and poor implementation of previous investment. Closing the gap will require sustained commitment and action over the long term.
For example, we are moving what we call the Northern Territory Emergency Response towards a sustainable development phase and ensuring that measures are consistent with our international human rights obligations.
Reflecting the principles of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, we are committed to supporting the establishment of a National Indigenous Representative Body. A proposed model has been developed through a consultation process led and driven by Indigenous people. The Government is committed to seeing this body established by the end of this year.
Native title is an important means by which Indigenous Australians, and their rights and interests under traditional laws and customs, are recognised. Through recent amendments to the Native Title Act 1993, the Australian Government has made institutional changes to facilitate the faster resolution of native title claims with better outcomes.
The Australian Government has also announced a National Indigenous Languages Policy aimed at keeping Indigenous languages alive and supporting Indigenous Australians to connect with their language, culture and country.
Over a period of more than 160 years the remains of Indigenous Australians were collected, usually without consent, by explorers, travellers and scientists and shipped off to museums and private collections across the world.
Indigenous Australians believe those ancestral spirits cannot rest until they are returned to their home country.
The Government is committed to working with Indigenous people, other countries, museums and private collectors to repatriate ancestral remains as quickly as possibly.
These commitments and initiatives reflect the Australian Government’s determination that relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians be based on equality, partnership, good faith and mutual respect. We look forward to updating this Committee on future progress.