World: Australia failing to honor pledges to Aborigines, group says

Copyright © 2002 AP Online, from the Nando Times Website

By EMMA TINKLER, Associated Press

CANBERRA, Australia (May 15, 2002 12:50 p.m. EDT) - The Australian government's Aboriginal rights watchdog on Wednesday accused Canberra of deliberately ignoring its pledge to make peace with the country's indigenous people.

"The federal government ... has quite deliberately sought to shut down debate and avoid any engagement," with Aborigines on reconciliation, said Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner William Jonas.

Aborigines, who have lived in Australia for at least 40,000 years, are now a minority of about 400,000 in the country's mostly white population of 19 million. They are the poorest, sickest and most frequently jailed members of Australian society.

Under early white settlement, many Aborigines were massacred or rounded up to live on reserves. Thousands of Aboriginal children, now known as the "stolen generations," were taken from their parents and put into orphanages.

Despite apologies to Aborigines from many state and community leaders, Prime Minister John Howard has refused to say sorry, arguing modern Australians should not be held responsible for past injustices.

But he has promised to improve Aborigines' standard of living and their relations with whites under a system he calls "practical reconciliation."

Jonas dismissed Howard's policy as rebranding programs that already existed, such as programs that provide money to improve Aboriginal health and housing.

Jonas recommended a Senate inquiry be held into the faltering reconciliation process.

"We should also expect national coordination of reconciliation to prevent a repeat of the mistakes of the past," he said.

The annual report also condemned the government for its welfare reforms and failure to successfully implement recommendations made 10 years ago to curb the high numbers of Aborigines in Australian prisons.

"Indigenous affairs seem to have become a series of anniversaries - operating as an annual reminder of the unfulfilled promises and commitments of governments," Jonas said.

In a press release, Attorney-General Daryl Williams and Indigenous Affairs Minister Philip Ruddock said the government would "continue to take into account the information contained in such reports in developing policies to address indigenous disadvantage."

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