-----Original Message----- From: Webcentral <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >PRESS RELEASE > > > > >INDIGENOUS PEOPLE SOLD OUT BY LABOR DEAL ON NATIVE TITLE > >Indigenous people have been sold out again by the Federal opposition deal >with the Queensland Government to open up as much as 60,000 square >kilometres of the state to mining exploration. > >This deal cannot even stick unless the Beattie government were re-elected >and keeps its word. Its deplorable that political parties can throw away the >rights of our people and offer to replace them with more charity. > >I fully understand the frustrations that recent events have created across >Indigenous communities. The last thing we need is a frustrated Indigenous >population at a time when Australia is on show to the rest of the world. > >The opposition deal giving the Queensland government a Senate green light on >mining and exploration is a typical political scam. Commitments made to >Indigenous people have not been kept. > >The opposition's Indigenous Affairs spokesman Daryl Melham has been made a >sacrificial lamb to allow the deal to go through. Only yesterday the >opposition was distancing itself from the Federal Government's hysterical >over-reaction to some mild United Nations criticisms of its policies. > >A day later the opposition is endorsing a Queensland native title regime >based on federal laws found by the UN to be racially discriminatory. Talk >about a long time in politics. > >The state exploration scheme approved in the Senate can now be used by the >Beattie government to allow miners to tear up as much as 60,000 square >kilometres of land where native title may exist. It removes any rights of >native title holders to have a say in how exploration may occur on their own >country. > >The deal is also contrary to the relatively principled position Labor took >in the 1998 Wik debate and its own Indigenous affairs policy endorsed only >last month at its national conference in Hobart. > >The Labor Party says it is encouraging consultation and engagement with >Indigenous people but how can our leaders be expected to engage with a party >with optional policies? > >Geoff Clark >ATSIC Chairman >August 30 2000 > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------ 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/
