Indigenous leaders divided over preamble
From ROD McGUIRK of AAP
11aug99
2.30pm (AEST) INDIGENOUS leaders were divided today over the
new constitutional preamble, with one calling it a vast improvement
but others dismissing it as window dressing and patronising.
The preamble compromise, worked out by the Federal Government
and the Australian Democrats today, honours Aborigines and
Torres Strait Islanders for their deep kinship with their lands, but
stops short of referring to custodianship.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission deputy chairman
Ray Robinson said it was a vast improvement, despite the absence
of ownership or custodianship.
"All I can say, and I've got to be fair dinkum about it, that's a big
improvement on what we had before," Mr Robinson said.
He did not predict whether it would be acceptable to indigenous
people.
"They haven't gone all the way but they've gone most of the way
and I think it should be encouraging to all indigenous people
throughout the country," he said. "They've shown that they do
really recognise now that we are the prior owners of the country
and that we have custodianship of the country in some way and it's
a lot further than they've gone in the past."
But ATSIC commissioner responsible for native title and
Queensland Aboriginal elder Terry O'Shane said there was no room
for compromise on the truth as proven in the High Court's Mabo
decision of continuing indigenous ownership of the land.
"What the preamble has to recognise is what the High Court
identified in 1992 and what we've known for over 200 years � that
the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are the owners of
this country and this country has been stolen," he said.
He said the preamble did not match Prime Minister John Howard's
policy on Aboriginal affairs.
"It really is window dressing for them because his Government has
not given us any commitment in any way, shape or form in terms
of all that," he said.
ATSIC's first chairperson Lowitja O'Donoghue said the new
terminology was patronising: "Honouring them and all this crap, it
doesn't mean much," she said. "It's too wordy now, I don't know
how our people will react to that, really."
Dr O'Donoghue, who described the preamble as a distraction from
the republic referendum, said she had expected to see stewardship
of the land mentioned.
-------------------------------------------------------
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/
