The next Prime Minister of Australia is going to have his/her hands full rebuilding this country after the wholesale destruction of everything worthwhile wreaked by this government! --- Trudy THE AGE Evatt snub puts UN seat at risk By PAUL DALEY FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT CANBERRA Wednesday 21 June 2000 The Federal Government has seriously jeopardised Australia's chances of retaining a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Committee after deciding not to renominate Justice Elizabeth Evatt for a third term. It is the third signal in recent months that Australia could be distancing itself from the UN. It follows the recent launch by Foreign Minister Alexander Downer of a review of Australia's participation in the UN committee system and a decision not to send a political representative to a UN social development summit in Geneva next week. International human rights bodies and non-government organisations are privately expressing dismay at the decision regarding Justice Evatt, a former Family Court chief justice with a long record on human rights issues. UN sources consider her to be "the best, if not the only, chance" Australia has of retaining a seat on the 18-member committee. Justice Evatt was successfully nominated for membership of the UN Human Rights Committee in 1992 by the former federal Labor Government. One of four women on the 18-person committee, she was successfully renominated in the mid-1990s. A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade last night said: "Justice Evatt has had two two-year terms ... we are grateful for her work. But we think it is a good idea to take the opportunity to put new people into the UN system." He confirmed the government had nominated Professor Ivan Shearer - a captain in the Royal Australian Navy Reserve, an expert on international maritime law and a former consultant to DFAT on international law - for the UN human rights committee. Labor foreign affairs spokesman Laurie Brereton said: "Justice Evatt has made an enormous contribution to the defence of human rights in Australia and overseas. Her role has been internationally applauded and the government's decision sends yet another negative image of Australia's engagement with the UN." The results of Mr Downer's review of participation in the UN committee system, which was sparked largely by recent UN criticism of Australia's record on indigenous affairs and its treatment of refugees, is expected to precede Australia's appearance before the human rights committee next month. The Federal Government's decision not to back Justice Evatt for a third term coincides with disclosures in The Age yesterday that Australia was one of just two developed countries (the other is Japan) to opt for diplomatic - rather than senior political - representation at Monday's summit. Mr Downer yesterday said: "In terms of designing the social structure of our country, we tend to think it's better for Australians to make these judgments rather than spend an enormous amount of time and effort on pious delegations for multilateral conferences." -- ********************************** '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/
