On the Easter weekend David Marr ran a story in the SMH (26 March 2005) on UN unease over the Howard Government's record on race. The government has not responded on this occasion, perhaps having learnt a lesson from the last time Australia locked horns with the Committee on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination. Marr writes, “The committee's verdict last time round, in 2000, produced one of the great dummy spits of the Howard years, with the Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, roaring: "We won't cop it any longer. We are a democratically elected government in one of the most liberal and democratic countries you will find on Earth. And if a United Nations committee wants to play domestic politics here in Australia, then it will end up with a bloody nose."
Marr goes on:
“Australia was facing the committee's scrutiny for the first time in five years. The event went unreported back home and the verdict - handed down on March 12 - was the subject of only a few, scattered reports in the press. Australia was rebuked for its treatment of migrants, Muslims, asylum seekers, refugees and Aborigines. In the eyes of the Geneva committee, the list of this country's failures on the human rights front has only grown longer since the Howard Government came to office.”
David Marr has not lost sight of or interest in the human rights performance of the Howard Government. As a government official I found solace in the work of journalists unafraid to make governments accountable. Marr continues a fine tradition of Australian journalists reporting back fearlessly from ‘the barricades’.
The Australian Government has reacted badly to UN and NGO scrutiny of its human rights record. I am sure many Australians would be amazed to see Australia rebuked in this way. This kind of criticism is typically targeted at third world dictatorships!
No comments:
Post a Comment