Aboriginal call to re-establishing Racial Discrimination Act
Australian Aboriginal Leader and Advocates Criticizes NT Intervention
By Cindy Trinh
Impunity Watch Reporter, Oceania 12 Oct 09
SYDNEY, Australia – Aboriginal elder Richard Downs, along with various political and legal adversaries, has accused the Australian government of racism against the aboriginal people. Downs criticizes the NT Emergency Response (NTER) measures, stating that the measures have disempowered Aboriginal people.
The Australian government suspended the Racial Discrimination Act to permit certain measures in the NT Intervention,…….
In a press release from Downs, he demands that the Australian government heed to the advice of the UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Rights, and end the NT Intervention. Downs criticizes the NT Intervention for taking away the “indigenous and human rights” of the Aboriginal people. He demands for equal treatment, and support for the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.Furthermore, Downs states that the suspension of the Racial Discrimination Act has taken away the aboriginal people’s rights to ownership and control of their land.
Professor James Anaya, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Rights, states that the intervention is “racist and discriminatory.” After his visit to Australia, Professor Anaya found that “compulsory welfare income management, land take-overs, and alcohol bans…failed to comply with Australia’s international obligations [and] would have been illegal had the Racial Discrimination Act not been suspended.”…………………….
Michael Anderson, a leading activist for the Aboriginal people, calls for the reinstatement of the Racial Discrimination Act, and also demands that Section 51 of the Australian Constitution be deleted. This section gives the Australian government the right to make laws with respect to any race it deems necessary. Anderson claims that this section of the Australian Constitution gives leaders too much power and discretion to
Impunity Watch: Oceania: Australian Aboriginal Leader and Advocates Criticizes NT Intervention
1 Comment »
Leave a comment
1 This month
of the week – Disrupting War & Militarism in Oceania. Active solidarity. Radical practice.
Antinuclear 
And silence is consent –
Come on Australia – pop your bubble and have a look at what is going on in your back yard. Please don’t let this country slip into Despotism. This is happening across the country and must be stopped. The government has shown that it clearly does not have Aboriginal interests at heart.
Indeed, the Australian government, both Liberal and Labour, have shown nothing but contempt and ignorance, demonstrated monstrous incompetence, engaged in or facilitated the theft of land and property, forced relocations, seizure of cash, even a military occupation of NT remote communities. It’s all sounding like undeclared war on the Original People of this land.
But it’s all so far away. We don’t have to see it – we have our iPods and netBooks, our wide screens and our jobs. Where these things come from don’t matter – do they?
While you have these toys, put them to use – engage in the discussion. Voice your opinion, listen to others, and be open to learning. Forget blame, guilt, fear. These things only serve to distract and misdirect. The only way to clean up this mess is to get involved, learn what is going on and why, and support self determination.
Not sure how it effects you? The Victorian Government recently took a compulsory acquisition of the port of Hastings, because it did not want the local council or community to get in the way of development. Not the first, and not the last.
LikeLike