Beyond tolerance: national
conference on racism
Opening speech
Dr
William Jonas AM, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
Commissioner and Acting Race Discrimination Commissioner
As
convenor of this national conference on racism, it is my ambition in
just a few minutes this morning to fill in some of the context for the
conference and to outline my own aspirations for our deliberations.
Let
me begin, though, by thanking most warmly Mr Alan Madden for his gracious
welcome to this Eora country on which we meet and forwarding to him
our respect for his people, his elders and his ancestors.
I
would also express my appreciation to the Governor-General for officially
opening the conference and to my colleague Geoff Clark for joining me
in welcoming delegates. Finally I wish to acknowledge my colleagues
who are present from the State and Territory equal opportunity and anti-discrimination
agencies. Their support for the conference and for anti-racism work
beyond it is invaluable to the Commission as it is to their respective
State and Territory communities.
We
are meeting to reflect on manifestations of racism in Australia and
on strategies for combating it.
Last
year, in preparation for the World Conference Against Racism, I convened
or participated in 26 consultations around Australia, principally with
people who experience or witness racism in their daily lives. In local
meetings across the country, we held up a mirror to ourselves and revealed
many imperfections. The consultations indicated that racially discriminatory
practices are widespread, institutional in nature and practiced at all
levels of society.
In
August we travelled to South Africa for the World Conference and associated
forums. Happily the Conference came to an agreement on a substantial
Declaration and Programme of Action. Much in both documents is familiar
to Australians with our experience of multiculturalism and anti-discrimination
legislation and related campaigns. Yet even for us they serve as a wake-up
call to renewed efforts, re-prioritisation and innovation.
As
we deliberated in Durban the 'Tampa crisis' was unfolding back home.
Once again Australia was in the international spotlight and the view
was unflattering. That last occurred during 2000 when criticism was
levelled at our performance by four UN human rights committees. [1]
The
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination - or CERD - expressed
its particular concern about "the absence from Australian law of
any entrenched guarantee against racial discrimination that would override
subsequent law of the Commonwealth, states and territories", about
"the apparent loss of confidence by the indigenous community in
the process of reconciliation" and about "the rate of incarceration
of indigenous people [which] is disproportionately high compared with
the general population". [2]
Now
it is time for a national review. During these two days I hope we can
make progress in understanding and developing strategies to address
three issues in particular. The first is the phenomenon of denial.
Denial
of racist intent - "I'm not a racist but …" - is an Australian
cliché. Denial of racism is even more insidious when it infiltrates
policy and political discourse. One example has been the denial of the
racially discriminatory impact of mandatory sentencing and Indigenous
over-representation in custody.
The
second issue is systemic discrimination. Australians' habit of denial
serves apathy about systemic discrimination well. So does the current
mania for formal equality. I'm reminded of the words of CERD member
Patricia January-Bardill trying to explain the dangers of formal equality
to the Australian delegation at one hearing in Geneva. She said, "If
you give all the flowers in the world precisely the same amount of water
each, some of them will die."
We
need to excavate our political and legal institutions, our health and
welfare systems, to expose their monocultural underpinnings and the
ways in which they reinforce exclusion and denial on racial and ethnic
lines.
Finally
there is the issue of Indigenous peoples' rights and cultural survival.
These are tragically undermined by the discourse of denial and the monocultural
foundations of our institutions.
Another
bemused UN Committee member neatly encapsulated this foundational Australian
corruption in a comment about Boobera Lagoon, a sacred site in northern
NSW which is also a favourite recreation area with local Anglo-Australians.
Speaking of the Civil and Political Rights Covenant, he said "water-skiing
is not a Covenant right whereas protection of religious sites and heritage
sites is a Covenant right. Why then must the Covenant right be suspended
while water-skiing proceeds? I would have thought the reverse situation
would be the case."
Indigenous
rights are also undermined by the privileging of individual rights and
freedoms over group rights. I made this point in my comments on HREOC's
behalf to the World Conference plenary last year:
Denial,
systemic discrimination and Indigenous peoples' rights are the three
most pressing issues in my mind as we begin this national conference
on racism.
A
couple of weeks ago, in New York, Australia abstained with Canada from
the General Assembly vote on a resolution to adopt the Durban Declaration
and Programme of Action "because of the level of dissent that had
been expressed in Durban". Despite this abstention, Australia's
representative told the UN that Australia "would support the many
valuable conclusions contained in the Durban outcome". The interest
in this conference and the concerns expressed in the community during
my national consultations last year and in the period of much heightened
tension since all speak to an expectation in civil society that government
will, as promised in New York, "steadfastly implement forward-looking
strategies".
We
hope that one of the Durban conclusions the government will take up
is a national action plan to combat racism. National action plans have
emerged as domestic tools setting out commitments to implement international
undertakings, originally in the human rights field generally and now,
following the World Conference Against Racism, as a framework for anti-racism
efforts. The World Conference emphasised that governments should collaborate
with national human rights institutions such as HREOC, anti-racism NGOs
and civil society generally in the development of their national action
plans. Today we understand the government is still considering how to
respond to the Durban outcomes in detail.
Meanwhile
there is a great deal the Commission can do to develop and implement
anti-racism strategies in key sectors and I am committed to doing so.
Both my national consultations and the World Conference Against Racism
identified education, the role of the media, legislative reform, Indigenous
rights and the importance of action at local and State level as priorities.
The Commission will be guided by these proposals and by the outcomes
of this conference in developing our anti-racism program.
I
look forward to your contributions and to working with you today and
tomorrow and, I hope, throughout the year.
Endnotes
1.
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Human Rights
Committee, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Committee and the Committee
against Torture.
2. Concluding Observations by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination : Australia. 19/04/2000. CERD/C/304/Add.101.
