Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
I would like to begin by acknowledging all of the Ngunnawal peoples - the traditional owners of the land where we are meeting over the coming days. I pay my respects to your elders and to the ancestors.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
I would normally begin my speech with an acknowledgement of the traditional owners – but today I need to first express my thanks to Jackie for stepping in to give me voice.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
I would like to begin by acknowledging the traditional owners, [the Gum-bay-ngg-irr people] whose land we are meeting on and thank them for welcoming us to their country. I congratulate AIATSIS and NSW Native Title Services on organising this conference and thank everyone gathered here for your efforts to make this a successful conference. I am honoured to be invited to address you today.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
The right of Aboriginal people to control what happens on their land was acknowledged in the Woodwood Commission report into the protection of Aboriginal land in the Northern Territory. The report recognised that ownership of land was a meaningless concept if the owners were not able to control access to their land.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
The story in my hand is the saddest of all stories. It is the story of children taken from their mothers and fathers and families. It is the story of mothers and fathers and families who lost the most precious thing in their lives. Their children.
Disability Rights
I said when I first wrote inviting you to this forum that I had been receiving representations seeking action on a range of health issues for people with disabilities, including:
Disability Rights
Thank you for the opportunity to speak here today, World Mental Health Day. I am very pleased that World Mental Health Day this year is dedicated to the theme Human Rights and Mental Health. This theme recognises that mental health issues are human rights issues - a view argued strongly and consistently by our Human Rights Commission for many years.
Disability Rights
Thank you Attorney General, and Minister Carr, and Parliamentary Secretary Shorten, for the invitation to participate in this launch of the Premises Standards. And thank you Ms Rein for your support of this important event. And its appropriate that the launch takes place in this building- one of the few in Australia with braille on its walls. Sadly, though, Qantas wouldn't let me bring my ladder on the plane, so I still haven't been able to read what it says. However, Google tells me that some quite subversive messages were put there.
Disability Rights
20 years ago today Kay Cottee sailed into Sydney Harbour, after spending 189 days as the first Australian, and the first woman, to circumnavigate the globe solo. As a sailor myself, I truly appreciate this epic achievement. When she set foot on land, she was asked how it felt to have conquered a man's world. "I was brought up to believe there is no such thing as a man's world or a woman's world" she said, "its everyone's world."
Disability Rights
It has been an extraordinary privilege to know Graeme and share in his work towards achieving a fair go for all members of Australian society and in particular for people with disabilities.
Disability Rights
One day a few years ago I went in to wake my son. I told him that it was good to get up in the morning, to which he grumpily replied, "yes, but dad, it's even better to stay in bed".
Disability Rights
Much of my mis-spent youth involved listening to rock bands. At that time the internet hardly existed, as opposed to the ubiquitous role it now plays in our lives. That's a shame for many reasons, one of them being that had it done so, I could have justified my time by contributing to www.kissthisguy.com . This is a site which lists what people thought were the words of rock songs, and then what they actually are.
Disability Rights
When I was invited to prepare this paper, Andrew Byrnes encouraged me to concentrate on drawing out strategic thoughts from the Australian experience which might be relevant in Hong Kong , and perhaps in other countries also. That is what I hope to do, rather than spending much time simply reciting that experience or the terms of Australia 's legislation.
Race Discrimination
I also acknowledge colleagues from government, and from non-government organisations, including from a wide range of churches and faith-based organisations. And particularly can I acknowledge colleagues from the Australian Multicultural Foundation, Hass Dellal and Athalia Zwartz, and Professors Gary Bouma and Des Cahill, as the authors of the report we are receiving and launching today.
Legal
Paper presented at the Homelessness and Human Rights Seminar Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission 12.30 – 2pm, Monday 7 April 2008 133 Castlereagh Street, Sydney, NSW
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