The Canberra Times Thursday, 30 December, 1999 Howard isolated on race apology By ABAN CONTRACTOR Prime Minister John Howard is finding himself increasingly isolated on the issue of Aboriginal reconciliation, with all states throwing their weight behind a new push to codify racial harmony. Even the Liberal-led states of Western Australia and South Australia have given in-principle support for an updated draft of the Declaration for Reconciliation which still includes an apology to Aboriginal children forcibly removed from their families. Mr Howard and the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Reconciliation, Philip Ruddock, would be responsible for putting the declaration into federal law, but the states, territories and local governments must also endorse it. Mr Howard was dissatisfied with the original draft, particularly the inclusion of an apology, the recognition of customary laws and custodianship. The Government-appointed Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation chairwoman Evelyn Scott confirmed yesterday that those themes would be retained in the final draft. Ms Scott told The Canberra Times she was extremely pleased with the support shown by the premiers. ' There was a lot of very positive feedback, especially from Queensland,' she said. ' I'm really pleased the people wanted to retain the apology, in fact they wanted to make it even stronger. ' It's not up to any one person. It's not going to be a government document, it's going to be a people's document. And the people will not only sign off with their heads, but with their hearts.' State government sources described as extremely positive the meetings between federal officials, the council, premiers and chief ministers which concluded two weeks ago. But a spokesman for Mr Ruddock said yesterday the document was ' still a work in progress' . An article in a recent council newsletter written by WA Premier Richard Court outlined his support for the reconciliation process. ' A final document for reconciliation will serve as the symbolic basis on which Australians can progress a lasting understanding of reconciliation,' he wrote. ' My understanding is that it should also serve as a practical blueprint for future initiatives within the Australian community to advance reconciliation. ' I believe a final document for reconciliation must be both inspiring and down-to-earth, biased to future achievements rather than the errors of the past, and help bind us together as one people rather than emphasise our differences.' A Queensland Government spokesman said the document had yet to go before Cabinet but no minister had taken a position against it. The Queensland Parliament had already apologised to members of the ' stolen' generation and produced a draft model recognising custodianship of cultural heritage. Signing-off on the declaration was the next logical step, he said. Ms Scott said she hoped the declaration would be completed by February, with a commitment from all levels of government. It had to be handed to Mr Howard before May 27. ------------------------------------------------------- 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/recoznet2%40paradigm4.com.au/
