Suspending the Racial Discrimination Act (RDA) allows racially discriminatory actions to occur – and this is exactly what happened in the roll out of the Northern Territory Intervention.
In 2007, the Federal Government suspended the RDA to enable the Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER) to implement laws and programs that discriminated against Aboriginal communities such as income management and the compulsory acquisition of Indigenous lands. The discriminatory nature of the Intervention has evoked widespread outrage and condemnation. When the UN Special Rapporteur, James Anaya, visited Australia in August 2009, he stated that aspects of the NT Intervention “overtly discriminate against Aboriginal peoples, infringe their right of self-determination and stigmatize already stigmatized communities”.
The NTER Review board in October also commented that “the Intervention diminished its own effectiveness through its failure to engage constructively with the Aboriginal people it was intended to help.” It said that the relationship between the Government and Indigenous Australians “must be recalibrated [in order to reflect] the principle of racial equality and respect for the human rights of all Australians”.
The Federal Government has promised to take steps to reinstate the RDA as soon as next week. However, the Government is proposing to designate some discriminatory practices, such as welfare quarantining, as a ‘special measure’ to allow them to continue.
Call on the Federal Government now to reinstate the RDA in full… no conditions, no excuses! and read the full article HERE:
