John Hallam Friends of the Earth Sydney, Suite 15, 1st Floor, 104 Bathurst Street, Sydney, NSW, 2000. Fax(61)(2)9283-2005 ph(61)(2)9283-2006. [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://homepages.tig.com.au/~foesyd The Australian Government has just nominated ex-Foreign minister, Gareth Evans, for the director-generalship of UNESCO. The environment movement here is unimpressed, and suspcts that it is a way to head off an 'in Danger' listing for Kakadu. The diplomatic dirty-tricks are being deployed! FRIENDS OF THE EARTH PRESS RELEASE 7/6/1999 GARETH EVANS UNESCO NOMINATION A KAKADU SPOILER Friends of the Earth believes that the Governments latest move, to nominate Gareth Evans to the post of Director general of UNESCO is not to be taken seriously. It is designed solely to place pressure over the 'in Danger' listing for Kakadu on the Japanese candidate, Ambassador Koichiro Matsuura, now chairperson of the World Heritage Committee, which will be considering that question in Paris on July12. According to FOE Sydney nuclear campaigner John Hallam, "Gareth Evans nomination is purely a diplomatic ploy designed to head off an 'in danger' listing for Kakadu. It's another piece of sly diplomatic manoeuvring and backstabbing of the kind we have come to expect from this government." "It's as well to examine the real reasons they are doing this. The government is resorting to these tactics because they realise that there is no way they can win the 'in danger' argument on its merits. The UN advisory bodies, IUCN and ICOMOS have reiterated their position, that Kakadu must be placed on the 'in Danger' list. In every previous situation in which mining has taken place within or adjacent to World Heritage listed properties -(The Mt. Nimba Nature Reserve and the Yellowstone National Park) - the World Heritage Committee has placed the property on the 'in Danger' list. Mining for uranium or anything else in the middle of World Heritage properties violates the very strict criteria that makes those sites World Heritage." "If Mr Evans wants to prove that we are wrong about this, there is one way he can do so, namely by giving a cast iron committment that he will abide by the consistent advice of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee advisory bodies, which is to list Kakadu as in Danger." "Failure to place Kakadu National Park on the 'In Danger' list will compromise the credibility of the entire World Heritage regime. It is essential that the World Heritage Committee does not succumb to diplomatic bullying, wheeling and dealing and dirty tricks by the Australian government, and that it endorses the strongly reiterated recommendations of IUCN and ICOMOS, and places Kakadu on the in danger list" Contact: John Hallam, (02)9283-2006 ABC NEWSITEM 7/6/1999 GARETH EVANS GETS GOVT'S NOD AS UNESCO HEAD The Federal Government has confirmed that it is nominating the former labour foreign minister, Gareth Evans as its candidate to head UNESCO. Fifty- eight countries will vote later this year for a new Director-general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural oreganisation. The foreign minister, Alexander Downer, says only four candidates have so far nominated for the post, but none is particularly strong. Mr Downer says the Government is putting party politics aside to support Me Evans, because he would be a strong candidate for the job. "I think Gareth Evans with his background obviously as foreign minister, as a politician, his background in academia, the portfolios he's held such as in the resources area and so forth, they all give him a breadth of experience as a candidate that nonoe of the other candidates have." Mr Downer said. Gareth Evans says he is looking forward to the challenge of campaigning for the position. He has thanked the Government for supporting him and has rejected suggestions that it is part of a campaign to stop kakadu from being placed on the World heritage list of endangered sites. "When I was in Paris, I talked to representatives of something like 40 countries about possible candidacies, the future of UNESCO and so on" mr Evans said. "Not one single country raised with me Australia's current problems with the World Heritage Committee." "It's seen as part of the UNESCO sort of family, the World Heritage Committee, but its not seen as a mainstream issue for UNESCO itself to be worrying about, and certinly the Director- general couldn't influence decisions of this kind." THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY MEDIA RELEASE 7 JUNE 1999 GARETH EVANS MUST NOT BECOME AUSTRALIA'S KAKADU CANDIDATE The announcement today that former foreign minister Gareth Evans will be Australia's candidate for Director-general of UNESCO is a matter of deep concern, according to The Wilderness Society. National Campaign Director Alec Marr said: "Gareth Evans must ensure that he does not become the coalition's 'Kakadu candidate', that is, a candidate who is only being supported by the Australian Government as a method of pressuring the current chair of the World heritage Committee, Ambassador Koichiro Matsuura of Japan" Ambassador Matsuura is a serious contender to become director general of UNESCO towards the end of this year. "Regardless of the qualities which Gareth Evans may be able to bring to the position of Director-General of UNESCO, any Australian candidate at this time will be seen simply as another way of pressuring the World Heritage Committee into not listing Kakadu as'in danger' at its special one day meeting on 12 July." "Gareth Evans should immediately clear the air and declare his opposition to the Jabiluka uranium mine in line with statements made by leader of the opposition, Kim Beasley." "Nobody believes that Australia's sudden interest in running a candidate for Director-general of UNESCO is coincidental or that it is disconnected with the Australian Governments other main lobbying actvity around UNESCO, which is a multi-million odllar intrnational lobbying campaign to stop Kakadu from being inscribed on the list of World Heritage in Danger." Contact:Alec Marr, 0417-229-670 -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:PR: AUSTRALIAS KAKADU CANDIDATE FOR UNESCO D/G
FoE Sydney - Nuclear Campaign Mon, 7 Jun 1999 18:11:49 +1000
