Treaty Advancing Reconciliation

Treaty Advancing Reconciliation Conference 26 - 28 June 2002 Call for papers please consider the theme you wish to address in your paper proposal and send to pstewart@central.murdoch.edu.au Background In his letter of January 2001 to Murdoch University’s Vice Chancellor, the Chair of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission writes that the ATSIC Board "believes that it is only through a properly negotiated binding treaty that true reconciliation will be delivered [between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians]." He notes that ATSIC "has made an historic decision to commit to a process of developing a Treaty between the Australian Government and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples," and emphasises "the importance of encouraging the involvement of the broader community and of providing community education…" to achieve this goal. The letter goes on to request the University’s assistance in facilitating this community awareness and education. In response, with the support of ATSIC and others, and in recognition of the expertise of its staff across a wide range of disciplines, Murdoch University is proposing to host a conference to advance community understanding of the Treaty issue in pursuit of reconciliation. That conference entitled "Treaty—Advancing Reconciliation", is described in detail in the attached proposal for support. Provided below is a brief outline of the conference and its aims Background to the current Treaty discussionOne concern expressed following the Australian High Court’s 1992 Mabo decision acknowledging the concept of native title as part of Australian common law was that it was new law, foreign to existing legal tradition. However, as that decision makes clear, the concept of native title had long been a legal fixture in other British colonies in North America, New Zealand, Africa and Asia. Similarly, the quest by Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal Peoples in Australia for a treaty between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians has a long historical record. The land rights movement was not born with the Mabo decision, nor is the quest for a treaty something that arises out of that decision, the decade long work of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation in the 1990s, or recent initiatives by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission. The quest for the acknowledgement and protection of land rights and protection of other social, political, and cultural rights inherent in the conception of a treaty between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia are fundamentally related in both contemporary politics and the historical relations between Indigenous and settler populations in former British colonies.
Day 1 Treaty relations between British colonials and Indigenous Peoples in North America and New Zealand		The proposed conference is intended to examine both the historical roots of "the treaty question" and its contemporary manifestations in Australian political and social discourse. As indicated in the proposal, the conference is divided into three days. Day One is intended to explore the historical development of treaty relations between British colonials and Indigenous Peoples in North America and New Zealand and consider what lessons the development of treaties as the principal means of relations between those settler populations and Indigenous populations may have for contemporary Australian Indigenous and non-Indigenous relationships. Day One is also intended to explore the impacts of International human rights and other legal developments on Australia’s efforts to resolve differences between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia. Day one will draw in community discussions on the linkage between racism policies and the treaty debate.

Day 2 Historical Roots to the "Treaty Question"		Day Two is intended to explore the historical roots of the quest for a Treaty in Australia. While at least one treaty was negotiated in Australia, none were ever formally adopted, explore why the rights of Indigenous peoples to their lands not respected and how did this failure of official policy lead to present demands for a treaty?

Day 3 Should Australia seek to negotiate a treaty / agreement ? and if so what should it seek to accomplish ?		Day Three of the proposed conference builds upon the discussion in the first two days. It too is directed at exploring the answers to two fundamentally related questions. First, given the experience elsewhere in former British colonies the conference will consider issues arising from Indigenous people’s land rights, social and political rights evidenced in International Human Rights agreements, most of which Australia is a party to, should Australia seek to negotiate a treaty/agreement, or perhaps, a series of treaties with Aboriginal and Islander peoples. Second, if a treaty is a desirable outcome, what should it seek to accomplish and do the existing negotiated agreement/treaty models offer any lessons to Australia.

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