CPA Policy: For the rights of Indigenous Australians

In the five decades following World War II the Aboriginal and 
Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia made slow but steady 
progress against strong resistance in achieving equality and 
recognition of their rights within Australian society.

Recognition of Indigenous people as full citizens of Australia 
with the right to vote; an end to the genocidal policies of 
removing children from their parents and the forced dispossession 
of Indigenous peoples from their land; an end to forced labour; 
the recognition of some nominal "land rights"; and finally the 
Mabo High Court decision which overturned the Constitutional 
claim that Australia was terra nullius — an "empty land" when 
European settlers arrived — were all milestones in Australian 
history.

In contrast, the past eight years of Howard Government have seen 
a marked change in Government policy.

The Howard Government has pursued a policy it calls "Practical 
Reconciliation". Government programs that claim to increase the 
levels of health, education, employment of Indigenous people have 
taken precedence over, and in many cases replaced those based on 
the just claims of Indigenous people to greater self-
determination and land rights.

The Howard Government's "practical reconciliation" policy has 
lead to the abolition of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait 
Islander Commission (ATSIC); the abolition of government bodies 
and departments that had a specific purpose to assist Indigenous 
people; stripping Land Councils of their democratic structures 
and right to determination over the use of Indigenous land and 
resources; and enacting reactionary legislation to strip 
Indigenous people of their ability to claim ownership of land as 
recognised under the Mabo High Court Decision.

These policies mirror to the letter those put forward by Pauline 
Hanson and the One Nation Party and other organisations on the 
extreme right.

Yet these policies do not reflect the will of the Australian 
people.

On May 28, 2000, hundreds of thousands of Australian people took 
the streets in every city of Australia in the largest peacetime 
demonstrations in Australia history, calling for a true 
reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. 
Significantly, they called for a formal apology from the 
Australian Government for the crimes against humanity perpetrated 
against the Indigenous people.

The reality in Australia today is that many Aboriginal and Torres 
Strait Islanders continue to live in conditions comparable to the 
Third World: astronomical rates of unemployment, illiteracy and 
incarceration; thousands of deaths yearly from treatable and 
preventable diseases due to lack of access to health services; 
and an average life expectancy 20 years lower than the non-
indigenous community.

The Communist Party of Australia calls for the ousting of the 
Howard Coalition Government, and the establishment of a new 
government that gives full rights and recognition to the 
Indigenous peoples of Australia, and with policies and the 
determination to ensure Indigenous people achieve full equality 
in all areas of Australian life.

The Communist Party of Australia is proud of its history as the 
first organisation in Australia that called for equality for the 
Indigenous inhabitants of Australia. It continues to call for:

* Formal recognition and an apology from the Government of 
Australia to the Indigenous peoples for past acts: of genocide; 
the theft of land and resources; the forced dispersal of 
Aboriginal people across the continent; the forced removal of 
children from parents; forcing men, women and children into slave 
labour; and for hundreds of years of discriminatory laws that 
have ensured that the Indigenous people have remained unequal in 
democratic rights, health, education, employment and many other 
areas

* A treaty to finally be established between the Indigenous 
inhabitants of Australia and the Australian state

* Constitutional recognition of Aboriginals and Torres Strait 
Islanders as the original owners and inhabitants of Australia

* The continued and expedited return of land to the Indigenous 
peoples, extending the "Mabo" High Court decision to recognise 
claims on the basis of traditional ownership, religious 
association, long occupancy and/or need

* The establishment of autonomous areas for Indigenous 
communities on the basis of communally owned land where the 
owners have full and inalienable rights use the land and its 
resources — both above and below ground

* The abolition of all laws, regulations and administrative 
practices based on racial discrimination or unequal status, and 
an end to the discriminatory use of laws against Aboriginals and 
Torres Strait Islanders

* Continuing and extending government-funded campaigns to bring 
about equality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples 
in health and education

* The immediate restoration of full powers and responsibilities 
of ATSIC (the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission) 
with laws, regulations and sufficient funding to allow ATSIC to 
fulfil its charter to: pursue equality for Indigenous people; 
ensure Indigenous people have a voice, influence in policy 
decisions, and represent the interests of Indigenous people at 
local, national and international level; ensure Indigenous people 
have the same level of services that are provided to all 
Australian citizens; ensuring that unique cultural heritage is 
preserved and maintained; and promote self-determination and 
empowerment of Indigenous people.