ABC News Tuesday June 13, 2000 Aborigines confront Howard with a demand for a treaty The Prime Minister has been given a demand for compensation and reparation for the Aboriginal people of Northern New South Wales at the start of a two-day visit to Moree. Mr Howard was accompanied by Industrial Relations Minister Peter Reith and Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson, and will be joined by Philip Ruddock in his capacity as Minister assisting the Prime Minister on reconciliation. A member of the local Aboriginal community, Ray Swan, told the Prime Minister, the State and Federal Government should agree to the decolonisation of tradition Aboriginal lands. "The community has to realise there's an universal jurisprudence that plays a part here, and Australia is part of the family of mankind," he said. "They're obligated under international law to adhere to international principles because that's the decolonisation process." But Mr Howard says he is committed to practical reconciliation, so that all Aboriginal people can share in the general life of the Australian community. "If we can provide over the years genuine equality of opportunity for all Australians, whether they're Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders or other Australians, then you will achieve genuine reconciliation." -- ********************************** 'Click' to protect the rainforest: Make the Rainforest Site your homepage! http://www.therainforestsite.com/ ********************************** ------------------------------------------------------ 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/
