Statement by H.E. Mr Gary Quinlan, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Australia to the United Nations General Assembly regarding the follow up to the Commemoration of the 200th Anniversary of the abolition of the Transatlatic Slave Trade, 9 December 2010.
(as delivered)
Mr President
It is not just an honour – but an obligation – to speak today following the introduction of the resolution on the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Australia is again a co-sponsor of the resolution.
I say this is an obligation because we are all obliged to remember the dark side of human history. If we are to make progress in human relations we must learn from the worst parts of our history.
Maybe as many as eighteen million people were brutally enslaved and removed from their families and communities through the trans-Atlantic slave trade: the largest forced removal of people in history. Maybe two-and-a-half million Africans died while being transported. We do not know how many died resisting enslavement.
This terrible period of history – over four centuries – is known in Swahili as the Maafa – the great disaster.
This is not remote history. But it is still very poorly understood history.
The last survivors of slave voyages died barely fifty years ago. Slavery has been abolished globally. But its legacy remains strong. Racism always threatens. Human trafficking persists today, including in countries which regard themselves as among the most sophisticated on the planet.
Mr President
Memory shapes our future. But too often our history is written by the dominant. Historians themselves have spoken of what one of them has called the “disgraceful amnesia” in our history about the slave trade. We must correct that.
Australia supports the initiatives under this resolution. We welcome the designation of an annual International Day of Remembrance and the associated commemorations. And we very strongly insist that we need to educate future generations on the consequences of racism and prejudice. We try to do so in our own school curriculums.
In Australia’s own experience, we know – and we recognise – that we have wronged some of our own community, the first Australians – indigenous Australians.
We have tried to come to terms with this through an historic apology to Australia’s indigenous peoples, which was delivered to our Parliament – and endorsed by our Parliament – by Prime Minister Rudd in 2008. This was the first official act of the new Parliament under his Government.
This was deliberately symbolic for the nation. But also deeply personal – not only for indigenous Australians themselves. But also for other Australians – many of whom were genuinely surprised by the depth of the emotional release they felt through the public acknowledgement that our own history had caused such wrongs.
Mr President
Australia supports the creation of a permanent memorial in remembrance of the victims of slavery and the trans-Atlantic slave trade. We are today doubling our financial contribution to this project. And we will continue to support the memorial in the future.
We look forward to the adoption of this resolution by consensus by the General Assembly.
Thank you.