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Rights and Freedoms

WORLD REFUGEE DAY 2004

Before I begin, I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we stand and pay my respects to their elders both past, present and future.

Category, Speech
Commission – General

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I feel very honoured to have been invited to contribute to this symposium. As a theme for today's discussion, I have chosen the notions of regionalisation and responsibility within Asia and the Pacific. I believe that the ability to accept responsibility for our neighbourhood, and to generate cooperative regional dialogues and actions to fulfill that responsibility will be the key to meeting the challenges and opportunities human rights will face in the new century.

Category, Speech
Commission – General

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I also thank Professor Barry Brook for his survey of the latest scientific assessments and forecasts on the impact of climate change on our planet. They are indeed alarming. The fact of climate change, and the rate of change, has become all too clear, even if there are still sceptics that wish to debate the causes. Our title reference to “Catastrophic Impacts” seems fully justified.

Category, Speech
Rights and Freedoms

Children and the Law: Issues in the Asia Pacific Region

Salutation Firstly I would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we stand and by so doing remind ourselves that Australia’s cultural traditions stretch back many thousands of years.

Category, Speech
Rights and Freedoms

“Child Migrants and Human Rights in our Time”: Dr Sev Ozdowski OAM (2005)

I should add, at this point, that my work over the past few years and my inquiry on children in immigration detention (CIDI), in Australia, the report of which "A last resort?" was tabled in the Australian Federal parliament in May of 2004, has made me even more keenly aware of the fragility of child asylum seekers. But more on that later!

Category, Speech
Commission – General

Human Rights - Refugees and Terrorists - What Rights?

It is a great pleasure to be speaking today with Judge Clifford Wallace. I had the pleasure of meeting him on several occasions at Judges' conferences in the Pacific. I was very sorry to miss him when he was in Adelaide in 2003.

Category, Speech
Rights and Freedoms

Human rights issues for young refugees and asylum seekers

The globalisation of the world economy, including much improved communication and transportation, has increased flows of people across borders. This includes the movement of children, both with their family and unaccompanied. Separated children crossing borders may be refugees, humanitarian asylum seekers, trafficked girls who will be forced to work as prostitutes, or simply children lost in the aftermath of war. So today, children can literally travel across the world undetected and unprotected. And Australia, as part of this global system, has its share of these children.

Category, Speech

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