Two messages.
1. From the Weekend Australian June 14-15
Wik Decision Online Petition
http://www.austlii.edu.au/unsw/centres/ilc/
[ I had some problem connecting to this site, possibly due to a local DNS
(Domain Name Server) problem that may not affect others. However, if
you have similar problems, try "http://138.25.65.9/unsw/centres/ilc/"
I have tried all of the URLs listed below, and know them to work. If
you plan to visit some of the pages, you might find it easier to view
the Web-based copy of this article in the NATIVE-L archives. The URL
is "http://bioc09.uthscsa.edu/natnet/archive/nl/9706/0039.html" --Gary
(gst@gnosys.svle.ma.us) ]
If you think the government is dragging the chain in its response to the
Wik Native Title decision you can sign this petition to the Senate. The
petition is sponsored by the Indigneous Law Centre at the University of NSW.
2. Forwarded message via John Brisbane, Social Change Online (Note some
formatting from HTML lost, but message provides some additional and useful
information).
PETITION to the COMMONWEALTH PARLIAMENT 1997
The Indigenous Law Centre at UNSW, along with Father Frank Brennan, SJ,
offers you the opportunity to sign, on line, a petition that will be
submitted to the Senate, regarding the Parliament's response to the High
Court's Wik decision.
The text of the petition is as follows:
To the Honourable, the President and Members of the Senate in the
Parliament assembled. The Petition of the undersigned requests that the
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of this country are treated
justly and fairly. It is in the interest of all to build this nation in a
spirit of reconciliation and co-operation with Australians of diverse
racial and ethnic backgrounds.
We call on you to ensure that regional agreements with Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander peoples are pursued in good faith, so as to
determine their rights to their land in a spirit of reconciliation.
The co-existence of Native Title and Pastoral Leases on Crown Land is
supported by legal principle and historic fact, upheld by the High
Court. The people and Governments of Australia have a moral
responsibility to give this fact real and just effect.
We call on members of the Senate to ensure that legislation regarding
Native Title
(i) complies with internationally recognised principles of
non-discrimination; and (ii) promotes Reconciliation with Australia's
first peoples.
To Sign the Petition:
"http://www.austlii.edu.au/unsw/centres/ilc/wik_table.html"
On-line petitions to the Senate have become possible since Senator
Stott Despoja's announcement that the Clerk of the Senate will accept
electronic petitions
(http://www.democrats.org.au/democrats/media/1997/04/227nsd.html). For
those interested in the Senate's Procedures regarding petitions they can
be viewed at http://www.austlii.edu.au/unsw/centres/ilc/odgers.html.
The data you submit through a forms capable browser will be compiled
and will then be submitted to the Senate in a traditional hard copy.
It is also possible to submit your signature to the petition via
e-mail. To view the text which must be inserted into such an e-mail
see "http://www.austlii.edu.au/unsw/centres/ilc/email.html" This text
must be sent to "petition@austlii.edu.au"
For those unaware of the issues around the Wik High Court Case
(http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/high_ct/unrep299.html) there are
a variety of analyses available on the Web. A few links that would be
useful for finding information are:
"http://www.edime.com.au/nativetitle/" Coexistence, Negotiation And
Certainty The Indigenous Position in Response to the Wik Decision and
the Government's Proposed Amendments to the Native Title Act, 1993
(National Indigenous Working Group on Native Title.
"http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/other/car/nntt/wiksp221.html" Wik -
What Do We Do Now? A Speech by Justice French, the President of the
National Native Title Tribunal.
"http://www.atsic.gov.au/native/wik.htm" Plain English Guide To The
Wik Case The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission's Guide.
"http://www.austlii.edu.au/car/uniya/" The Wik Case Uniya (Jesuit Social
Justice Centre) Occasional Paper Number 97
"http://www.nla.gov.au/pmc/native/wik.html" Legal Implications of the
High Court Decision in the Wik Peoples - v - Queensland An Advice by
the Commonwealth Attorney-General's Legal Practice
"http://www.austlii.edu.au/car/" Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation
With links to information about the Reconciliation Convention
"http://www.aiatsis.gov.au/ntru_nl.htm" Native Title Newsletter The
Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies'
Newsletter
"http://www.austlii.edu.au/links/Australia/Subjects/Aboriginals_and_Torres_Strait_Islanders/"
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Links With Links to
information about Native Title from a range of organisations
Privacy Issues
The petition offers the option as to whether you allow the information
which you submit to be passed on to the National Indigenous Working Group
or whether you choose to have the information you submit destroyed once
it has been utilised for the sole purpose of creating a hardcopy
petition to the Senate. It also allows you to choose whether you want
your name, state and comments (if any) to appear in the 'petition
results' on site.
Administration
If you want to contact someone about the petition, its progress or give
feedback about it, please e-mail "kirsty@austlii.edu.au"
Senator Stott Despoja has announced that she will table the petition
during the first week of the sittings starting in late August. Hard
copies of the petition are also acceptable and can be downloaded and
printed from here - either as an html document (look at it through a
browser) or as an rtf file (open it in your favourite word processor):
"http://www.austlii.edu.au/unsw/centres/ilc/hardcopy.rtf"
To sign the Petition:
"http://www.austlii.edu.au/unsw/centres/ilc/wik_petition.html"
To view the Petition Results:
"http://www.austlii.edu.au/unsw/centres/ilc/wik_table.html"
(ends)