Australia lagging international human rights standards

Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory must have choice and must not be forced to abandon their lands and heritage in order to obtain services that are automatically provided to other Australians. The vision that is created must be one that is shared by both black and white.

We accordingly call upon the government to start afresh, to comply with our international obligations by bringing the Northern Territory Intervention to an end, including the termination of involuntary income management and securing Aboriginal rights in accordance with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Present flawed legislation including that purporting to reinstate the Racial Discrimination Act and s.91 of the NTER Act should be repealed and the Racial Discrimination Act reintroduced in an unqualified form.

Signed by:

Professor Jon Altman
Peter Norden AO
Diana Batzias
Rev Alistair Macrae
Professor Larissa Behrendt
Hon Colleen Moore
Rev Shayne Blackman
Hon Ron Merkel QC
The Hon Sally Brown AM
Graeme Mundine
Julian Burnside QC
George Newhouse
Fred Chaney AO
Hon Alastair Nicholson AO RFD QC
Patrick Dodson
Dr Sarah Prichard
Hon Elizabeth Evatt AC
Professor Cheryl Saunders AO
Rt Hon Malcolm Fraser AC CH GCL PC
Brother Paul Smith AM
The Most Reverend Philip Freier
Professor Fiona Stanley AC
Rev Dr Djiniyini Gondarra OAM
Rev Ken Sumner
Hon Paul Guest QC
Assoc Professor John Tobin
Phil Lynch
Bret Walker SC
Rosalie Kunoth-Monks OAM
Brian Walters SC
Professor Tim McCormack
Hon Ian Viner AO QC
Assoc Professor Sarah Maddison