UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY
12 December 2011
Follow-Up to the Commemoration of the Two-Hundredth Anniversary of the Abolition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade
Statement by HE Gary Quinlan
Ambassador and Permanent Representative
of Australia to the United Nations
Mr President
It is an honour to speak today following the introduction of the resolution on the Permanent memorial to the transatlantic slave trade. Australia is again a co-sponsor of the resolution.
The transatlantic slave trade was the largest forced relocation of people in history. Tens of millions of Africans were enslaved, removed from families and communities. Millions died while being transported. And uncounted others while resisting the slavers. What in Swahili is known as the Maafa – the great disaster – was the institutionalised face over four centuries of the very worst kind of racism and an almost unimaginable contempt for human life.
We need to recognise the dark side of human history and bring it into the light. The Permanent Memorial will be a lasting tribute to all those who died and suffered through the slave trade. It will also be a physical symbol of our common obligation to remember this dark part of our history. And to acknowledge that the fight against such savagery is never really won.
Racism always threatens. And human trafficking exists today – maybe 26 million or more people enslaved. And it can affect all of our societies.
Educating current and future generations about the transatlantic slave trade and its lasting consequences is essential. The resolution stresses this need and we commend those countries which have taken the initiative to do so. My own country places an emphasis on the consequences of racism and prejudice in our school curriculums. This will be an important part of Australia’s new national anti-racism strategy which is currently being developed.
I would like to applaud the efforts by CARICOM and the African Group – championed by the Permanent Memorial Committee under the leadership of Jamaica’s Permanent Representative, Ambassador Raymond Wolfe – to keep pushing forward the initiative for the permanent memorial. The launch of the design competition adds real momentum to the project.
Mr President
The imperatives of memory and the public acknowledgement of past wrongs is intrinsic to human progress. Every society is affected by this need.
My own country’s history saw the mistreatment of the first Australians, indigenous Australians, for too long. The historic National Apology to Australia’s indigenous peoples – delivered by our Prime Minister and endorsed by our Parliament in early 2008 – was a dramatic acknowledgement of the many wrongs our own community had suffered.
I have said here before that this was not only a symbolic act for the nation but also deeply personal. For indigenous Australians themselves but also for other Australians, many of whom felt a deep emotional release through the public acknowledgement that our own history had caused such wrongs.
Mr President
Reflecting our support for the Permanent Memorial I am pleased to announce a further financial contribution, bringing Australia’s contribution to date to $150,000.
We look forward to the adoption of this resolution by consensus by the General Assembly.