UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY 55th SESSION
Third Committee
Item 111: Programme of Activities of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People
Statement by Mr Peter Heyward for the Australian Delegation
17 October 2000
Madame Chair,
My delegation welcomes the opportunity to address the Third Committee on the activities of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People. The Australian Government unequivocally condemns racial prejudice in any form, and strongly supports international action to better recognise, promote and protect the rights of indigenous peoples throughout the world. Australia therefore strongly supports the International Decade of the World's Indigenous People as an important means to this end.
A key focus of the Decade has been work to develop a draft declaration of the rights of indigenous peoples. Australia recognises the critical importance accorded by many of the world's indigenous peoples to an instrument articulating their human rights. We have been active in all sessions to date of the inter-governmental working group convened by the Commission on Human Rights to undertake this work. We remain committed to the development of a suitable and effective instrument.
The establishment of a permanent forum in the United Nations to consider indigenous issues has been another important focus of efforts during the Decade, and one on which work is yet to be completed. Australia supports the establishment of an appropriately representative and accountable body which can ensure that indigenous peoples' perspectives are known and understood in the multilateral sphere, and can better coordinate UN activity on indigenous issues. We have been involved in work in the Commission on Human Rights to develop this concept. The outcome of that work, Resolution 2000/22 of the Economic and Social Council, reflects the broad agreement of states that such a body should be established, and on key elements of its mandate and modus operandi. However, further discussion is needed to clarify remaining elements, including the important and related ones of funding, and the fate of existing UN mechanisms whose roles duplicate elements of that envisaged for the new body. Australia remains ready to participate in any discussions that will facilitate effective participation by indigenous peoples in the UN system. We hope that those on the establishment of the Permanent Forum will move forward in the near future.
Madame Chair,
Australia's approach to indigenous issues at the multilateral level reflects our domestic approach, which is based on the principle that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples should have greater opportunities for exercising meaningful control over their affairs and an effective voice in decision making on matters which affect them. This principle already operates to a significant degree in Australia. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians are not only able to exercise the full range of civil and political rights that all Australians enjoy, a system underpinned by wide-ranging anti-discrimination legislation, but also have access to special legislation and programmes to safeguard and advance their rights. Two key bodies in the management and implementation of these programs, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission and Torres Strait Regional Authority, which between them administer over half the Australian Government's expenditure on indigenous specific programmes, are controlled by elected indigenous boards.
Like many other countries, Australia is continuing to confront its colonial past and the legacy of ongoing social and economic disadvantage faced by its indigenous peoples. One of Australia's key priorities in the new millennium is to ensure that all Australians share equally in the prosperity of the nation. The Australian Government is committed to redressing indigenous disadvantage, and spent a record $2.2 billion on indigenous-specific programmes in 1999-2000. The emphasis is on practical measures to improve indigenous people's health, housing, education, employment and training opportunities. Australian State and Territory governments have also implemented a range of indigenous-specific programmes and initiatives. Australia believes that such measures are necessary so that indigenous people can exercise their civil and political rights from a position of strength.
The Australian Government believes that true reconciliation can only be achieved through practical outcomes that improve the standard of living of indigenous Australians. The Government also understands the importance to many indigenous people of symbolic actions. Last year the Australian Parliament reaffirmed its "wholehearted commitment to the cause of reconciliation between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians as an important national priority for Australians", and, in a motion of reconciliation, expressed "its deep and sincere regret that indigenous Australians suffered injustices under the practices of past generations, and for the hurt and trauma that many indigenous people continue to feel as a consequence of those practices."
Advancing indigenous peoples' economic and social rights and opportunities is vital to achieving lasting reconciliation with the first peoples of so many nations. In this as in other areas of human rights Australia's policy has always been one of promoting human rights through practical deeds and actions, rather than simply words. To this end, Australia has participated in the full range of international forums designed to recognise the contributions that indigenous peoples have made and continue to make. Australian indigenous representatives have also been active participants in such forums, with the support of the Government, or that of their own representative bodies.
Madame Chair,
The Australian vision is of a culturally diverse and tolerant society, founded upon mutual respect and compassion and a commitment to active protection and promotion of the human rights of all. The reality of this vision, and of the role of Australia's indigenous peoples in it, was strongly evident in the face we presented the world during the Olympic Games. However, indigenous disadvantage is still a reality, in Australia and elsewhere. It is also a wasted opportunity given the tremendous contribution that indigenous peoples are able to make to the socio-economic, cultural and environmental development of the states of which they are a part. We therefore encourage all states, in partnership with their own indigenous peoples, to contribute to on-going work in the context of the Decade to address and resolve problems common to indigenous peoples throughout the world and to better recognise, promote and protect their human rights.