The Australian Aboriginal council member racially vilified By MEGAN SAUNDERS 23apr99 JACKIE Huggins believes that, as a member of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation, she should set an example for other indigenous people to follow. So when she and council chairwoman Evelyn Scott were refused a ride by a Sydney taxi driver last week, it was time to take a personal stand. Determined not to let the matter rest, the pair have complained to the NSW Department of Transport and also are preparing a letter for the NSW Anti-Discrimination Board. They hope the action will encourage other vilified indigenous people to assert their rights. "It doesn't matter what your status, what your position, where you live or what public office you hold, people will discriminate against you on the basis of skin colour," Ms Huggins said. "As an example for the rest of our indigenous community, who face this kind of treatment regularly, we felt that its time to stand up and fight it. "I felt wounded and humiliated, and that it should never happen in this day and age, even though we indigenous people face it every day." Ironically, the women, regarded as two of Australia's most high-profile indigenous leaders, had just finished a meeting at the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission � the national body responsible for hearing matters on racial discrimination � when the incident occurred. The driver did not say anything overtly racist to the pair, who were standing in a queue, but Ms Huggins said his "action and his body language" were racist. "He looked past Evelyn and I, who by this stage were ready to jump in the cab, and said 'Who's going to the airport?'," Ms Huggins said. "I replied 'Yes we are', to which he replied 'No, I'm not taking you lot, I've got the right to refuse who I want'." Under taxi-driving guidelines, people might only be refused if they are drunk or look like they are unable to pay their fare. The driver might have his taxi permit cancelled or be prosecuted if the Department of Transport acts on the complaint. The president of the NSW Anti-Discrimination Board, Chris Puplick, said yesterday it was an offence for a person to refuse to provide a service, such as a taxi service, to a person on the grounds of race. Ms Scott was unable to be contacted yesterday due to personal reasons. The Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation is a statutory body set up to oversee the reconciliation process, including the formulation of a reconciliation document. ------------------------------------------------------- RecOzNet2 has a page @ http://www.green.net.au/recoznet2 and is archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/ To unsubscribe from this list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED], and in the body of the message, include the words: unsubscribe announce or click here mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20announce This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." RecOzNet2 is archived for members @ http://www.mail-archive.com/
