Pressure Mounts on New Zealand to Adopt UN Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples

NZ now lagging behind in Indigenous Rights

Friday, 3 April 2009, 3:23 pm
Press Release: Hamilton City Council

Amnesty International Aotearoa NZ welcomes [NZ Prime Minister] John Key's recent comments regarding New Zealand's possible support of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, but calls on the NZ Government to follow in Australia's footsteps by making a solid commitment to the Declaration.

An announcement was made today by Australian Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin that Australia will officially support the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

"Australia has now taken a lead role in the promotion of the rights of Indigenous Peoples. It is time for NZ to follow suit and support the Declaration and its potential for promoting trust and a healthy treaty-relationship between Maori, iwi and hapu and the NZ Government," says Andrew Erueti, Amnesty's Co-ordinator of the Human Rights of Indigenous People's Programme.

Though the Declaration is non-binding, NZ's endorsement would signal to the international community this country's serious commitment to Indigenous Rights.

"While Amnesty welcomes the NZ Governments recent decision to review the controversial Foreshore and Seabed Act - an Act that was unequivocally criticised by the UN. NZ's immediate and unqualified support for the Declaration would contribute significantly towards healing the rift between Maori and Government over the foreshore debate," adds Erueti.

New Zealand was amongst only four countries to vote against the Declaration when the UN's General Assembly adopted it in September 2007, along with Australia, the United States and Canada.

"Amnesty International has consistently made calls for New Zealand to endorse this Declaration as another step forward in this country's leadership of human rights. A commitment now from the NZ Government would ensure that all New Zealanders stand to gain from such a show of good faith," says Erueti.
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Australia Adopts UN Declaration on Indigenous Rights: U.S., Canada, and New Zealand More Isolated

Australia backs UN declaration on indigenous rights

Last Updated: Friday, April 3, 2009 2:09 PM ET
CBC News

The Australian government has endorsed a United Nations declaration that recognizes the rights of indigenous people to their own culture, institutions and spiritual traditions.

Friday's endorsement of the non-binding declaration on the rights of the world's more than 370 million indigenous peoples reverses a position taken by Australia's previous conservative government.

Australia was one of four countries to reject the declaration adopted by the UN General Assembly in September 2007, the others being Canada, New Zealand and the United States.

"We do this in the spirit of resetting the relationship between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians and building trust," Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin said.

In one of his first acts after taking office last year, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd offered a formal apology to Australia's Aborigines for past government injustices, a gesture that his predecessor John Howard had resisted for years.

At the time, some Aborigines said the apology should have been accompanied with compensation for their suffering.

'Canada … even more isolated'

Still, indigenous leader Tom Calma on Friday described Macklin's statement as a milestone.

"This declaration gives us the scaffolding we need for our efforts to reject forever a passive acceptance of the brutal fact that indigenous Australians are dying on average about 17 years earlier than non-indigenous Australians," he said in a statement.

The Assembly of the First Nations of Quebec and Labrador said it's "thrilled" by Australian's decision to join the 143 countries that have supported the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

With this additional support for the declaration, "Canada finds itself in an even more isolated position," the group said in a statement.

Australia's former conservative government had argued the declaration could give unfair advantage to Aborigines and override Australian law. Canada and the U.S. voiced similar concerns.

With files from the Associated Press

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Copyright © CBC 2009

Native Rights News is making this material from CBCNews.ca available in accordance with the Fair Use Doctrine codified at Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107: This article is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information. Distribution of this material is for research and educational purposes that will promote social and economic justice and benefit society.