March/April 2009 Volume 7 Issue 11

Special Forum: UN Declaration on Indigenous Rights

On 3 April this year, the Federal Government formally endorsed the UN Declaration on Indigenous Rights. In the lead-up to the endorsement, many commentators and community members speculated that the Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Jenny Macklin, would couch the Commonwealth’s support for the Declaration in qualified or limited terms. For many Indigenous people, the broad terms of endorsement came as an encouraging sign, reflecting the Government’s acknowledgement that Indigenous rights form an integral part of our national political discourse. In this special focus edition, we reflect on what Tom Calma, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, describes as a ‘watershed moment’ in Australia’s relationship with Indigenous people.

We bring you the full endorsement speech, delivered by Minister Macklin at Parliament House in Canberra. With a process lasting more than two decades, we know that there were significant hurdles in drafting the Declaration. Indigenous rights advocate, Les Malezer, talks to Naomi Hart about why this non-binding document is so important, and what it means for indigenous people, both in Australia and around the world. Megan Davis, as an Australian delegate for ATSIC, witnessed firsthand many of the challenges involved in compiling the final version of the Declaration. Megan provides us with a personal insight into some of the highs and lows, sharing some of the difficulties in drafting, to the renewed sense of hope created by formal state recognition.

Of course, for the endorsement to have any meaning for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, there is a lot of hard work still to be done. Opening this edition, Neva Collings and Alex Grais report on the 14th Conference of the Parties on the UN Framework on Climate Change. The discuss why the Conference was largely a disappointment as a mechanism for advancing Indigenous interests and how little was achieved in protecting Indigenous peoples from the effects of climate change.
One year after the Apology to the Stolen Generations, Richard Mohr asks what we mean by ‘responsibility’ in the context of a government wishing to redress past wrongs. Looking specifically at the Intervention and the suspension of the Racial Discrimination Act, Richard argues that, for the Apology to have any meaning beyond 2008, it is important that the Commonwealth deliver on the concrete measures recommended in Bringing them Home, and provide Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people a guarantee against further racist polices, both now and in the future.

Sarah Maddison analyses some of the difficulties in advancing Indigenous interests in light of strong political pressure to present a consistently ‘united front’; the limited scope for diversity in political discourse means that it can be very difficult to properly address competing interests between different sectors of Australia’s Indigenous community. Sarah’s review is a timely backdrop to recent discussions by the independent steering committee on a national Indigenous representative body, where over 100 community leaders gathered to discuss the form and functions of the proposed body.

Finally, we examine the increasing trend towards alcohol restrictions in remote Indigenous communities. Kayla Calladine reviews the measures that have been introduced in WA and how they fit in with a substantive right to equality for Indigenous Australians. Nicole Watson evaluates alcohol restrictions that have recently been introduced in Queensland, demonstrating the way in which unilateral measures can sometimes yield counterproductive results, particularly in the field of criminal justice.

Editorial
Zrinka Lemezina
Editor

Special Forum: UN Declaration of Indigenous Rights

Representation of Indigenous Rights in Poznan
By Neva Collings and Alex Grais

Federal Government Formally Endorses the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

A Personal Reflection on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
By Megan Davis

Response and Responsibility
By Richard Mohr

Voice and Diversity in Indigenous Politics
By Sarah Maddison

Liquor Restrictions in Western Australia
By Kayla Calladine

 

Regulating Alcohol: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back?
By Nicole Watson

Archives of the ILB from Volume 1, Issue 1 (1981) to 6 (27) 2007 are available online at http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/AboriginalLB and http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/ILB/.

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