2000
2000.1. The Stolen Generation
Submitted 14 March 2000 to the Senate Legal and Constitutional References Committee, Parliament of Australia.
Published: Victorian Humanist, April 2000: 4.
In response to the call for submissions on the Inquiry Into the Stolen Generation, HSV made these main points:
• Historical evidence shows that the forcible removal of “half-castes” were not based on concerns for child welfare but on a policy to “breed out the colour”, as recorded in a Government document.
• The recommendation of the Bringing Them Home report provides an opportunity to rectify the present effects of forced separation.
• We congratulate the Government on adopting some of the recommendations and funding their implementation, but regret that some key issues were rejected and many relegated to the States and Territories.
• We argue that Indigenous Affairs should be solely under Commonwealth jurisdiction.
• We support monetary compensation to members of the stolen generation. Among them, victims of physical or secular [sic: sexual] abuse should have additional claim, as would the non-indigenous in similar circumstances.
• The handling of the test case of Gunner-Cubillo brings Australia into international disrepute.
• We regret that a since[re] apology was not offered by the Leader of the Government on behalf of the nation, given the very recent history of the stolen generation.
• We hope that the next report will be able to show better progress on “Bringing Them Home.”
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2000.2. New South Wales Bill of Rights
Submitted 30 March 2000 to the Committee on Law and Justice, Legislative Council, Parliament of N.S.W.
Published: Victorian Humanist, May 2000: 3.
To the inquiry on the NSW Bill of Rights we made the following main points:
• We strongly support the inclusion of a Bill of Rights and responsibilities in our Federal Constitution given that Australia is alone amongst developed nations without such provision.
• We believe that such overriding legislation is preferable to State Bills of Rights that may not be uniform.
• Responsibilities and obligations should be strongly linked to rights.
• Rights stated in the International Covenants and Declarations to which Australia is a signatory should be included in the Federal Bill of Rights.
• The rights of Indigenous Australians should be a high priority as we may be in violation of articles 9 and 29 of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights.
• All nine jurisdictions in Australia should formulate new laws, which are in line with international human rights instruments.
• As well, laws that are obsolete should be rescinded, such as the law of blasphemy. It is contrary to the separation of state and church and a penalty on free speech and opinion.
• We urge that the separation of church and state be reinforced in legislation so that the secular state may not fund sectarian religious instructions, which foster disharmony and conflict. A subject on comparative beliefs taught in schools would promote tolerance and understanding. Specific religious instruction should be funded privately.
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2000.3. Responsible Gaming Policy
Submitted 12 April 2000 to the Gaming Policy Unit, Department of Treasury and Finance, Victoria
Published: Victorian Humanist, June 2000: 4.
The following main points were made in our submission on Responsible Gaming Policy to the Department of Treasury and Finance.
• Irresponsible and compulsive gambling causes severe and costly consequences and for this reason we support strict regulation of this industry.
• We support the proposed measures to limit venues, facilities, hours of access, size of bets.
• ATMs should not be available on gaming premises.
• Local councils should have a say on the allocation of gaming licenses, but be obliged to justify their decisions.
• For players to make and informed choice, chances of wining should be stated on each machine.
• Enhancing text and pictures in gaming advertisements should be prohibited. We propose a series of brief TV ads on the negative aspects of gambling, as is done for safer driving.
• Unethical practices, such as bussing target groups to the casino, offering meals in gaming venues etc., should be prohibited.
• A percentage of revenue from bingo and poker machines should be spent in local communities on charities and projects, as was done in the past.
• Governments at all levels should reduce their dependence on gambling revenue.
• In spite of the competition between Tattersall and Tabcorp the commercial-in-confidence principle should not apply in this industry given its potential for criminal activity. More than most industries, it should be transparent in its operations, accountable and audited publicly. This should apply to the Victorian Casino and Gaming authority as well.
• There should be a process of strict accreditation of licensees.
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2000.4. Welfare Reform (additional submission)
Submitted 28 April 2000 to the Reference Group on Welfare Reform.
Published: Victorian Humanist, June 2000: 4.
Following our submission on the proposed Welfare Reform we were asked to answer additional questions. We made the following points:
• Social participation is contingent on economic circumstances and cannot be expected of those living below the poverty line. Their means and energy is [are] spent on the problems of daily survival. It is an alienating existence. The social benefits should, therefore, be lifted above the poverty line, prior to demands of meaningful social and economic participation.
• We support the proposal for an integrated payment structure for those of workforce age, provided that it is a sum adequate to eliminate poverty traps. The additional funds required for this, we regard as a cost-effective long-term investment.
• We support the notion of mutual obligation when practised by all sections of the community.
• We propose that a set of guidelines for community projects, based on past or existing successful enterprises, be used to popularise this approach.
• Structures need to be developed at a local level, e.g. as in the Boroondara Council (a.k.a. Camberwell, Victoria), to identify and facilitate voluntary work.
• Job creation must be of the highest priority. Shorter working week, overtime disincentives, land repair, major capital works in transport, recycling industries. There are still six unemployed persons, with higher rates regionally, for every available job. It is imperative to structure welfare support in such a way that prevents the emergence of a permanent underclass where unemployment and poverty is heritable over generations.
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2000.5. Northern Territory Mandatory Sentencing (Jailing)
Submitted 30 May 2000 to the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory (The Hon. Denis Burke, MLA).
Published: Victorian Humanist, July 2000: 3.
In response to a letter on mandatory sentencing from the Prime Minister’s Department, which suggested we make our views known to the chief Minister of the Northern Territory, the HSV responded.
The following points were made to the Hon. Denis Burke, MLA (NT):
• Humanists follow a long tradition of activism for human rights and against social injustice. Mandatory sentencing violates basic rights to a fair trial.
• In our condemnation of this practice we are in the excellent company of seven High Court Judges, noted Australian leaders, former Prime Ministers, NGOs, churches and a great majority of caring citizens.
• As a derivative of the Californian “three strikes and you are out” law which was intended to deal with serious crimes of violence, mandatory jailing for petty crime is a travesty of justice.
• For the law to be just, the rendering of any judgement demands that the judge reasons his/her opinion based only on logic and a sense of fairness and equity. Mandatory jailing excludes these precepts from the administration of justice and renders the judge an automaton.
• These patently discriminatory laws’ racial element damages Australia’s reputation as a fair and equitable society. Good reputation on the international forum is a valuable asset: we lose it by practicing these draconian measures.
• Mandatory jailing failed to act as a deterrent: incidence of property crime has risen 20 per cent since its introduction and there are huge and escalating costs.
• The NT is the recipient of the largest subsidy from other States. In the recent referendum it has rejected the option of statehood. For these reasons it is obliged to respect and heed the views of the taxpayers and their representatives.
• The deal struck by the Prime Minister introduces an additional concern in that it shifts the burden of judgement to the police.
• Other issues aside, this is primarily a serious violation of human rights and we urge you to rescind mandatory incarceration laws.
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2000.6. Safe Injection Facilities
Submitted 4 August 2000 to the Minister for Health, Victoria, and Professor David Pennington.
Published: Victorian Humanist, Sept. 2000: 3.
In response to a call for submissions on safe injection facilities we quoted research findings and statements by experts in support of the following main points in our submission:
• The alarming increase in deaths and injuries caused by heroin overdose makes the safe injecting facilities a matter of urgency. It would be an abrogation of duty of care by those in power not to trial these programs while they are proven effective in saving lives in other countries.
• We support these trials as part of the Government’s broad approach in drug policy: prevention, saving lives, expanding treatment and effective law enforcement of illicit trafficking.
• The whole community stands to benefit from the reduced nuisance and the health risks of drug use.
• We believe the problem is exacerbated by the policies of prohibition and tougher sentencing of drug users.
Therefore we urge:
(a) that heroin use be decriminalised;
(b) that special clinics dispense heroin on prescription to those who failed detoxification treatment;
(c) that accommodation, food, clothes, counselling and medial care is offered to drug users as an aid to rehabilitation. This should reduce the level of petty crime committed to support the drug habit and thus the time and involvement of the police, lawyers, courts, prisons, emergency health services all stretched to their limits at present.
(d) Thorough research into causes and preventative measures of drug addiction is paramount. Residential safe injecting facilities for users would provide the basis for such research.
Selective prohibition of some addictive substances but not others (alcohol, tobacco cause much greater health damage) cannot be supported rationally. Support of such a policy undermines the creditability of our leaders.
We strongly support the proposed public education program through the media.
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2000.7. Health Records Bill
Submitted 23 August 2000 to the Information Privacy Steering Committee, Department of Human Services, Victoria.
Published: Victorian Humanist, Oct. 2000: 3.
In our HSV submission on the Draft Health Records Bill proposed by the Victorian Minister for Health we made the following main points:
• We strongly support the principle of privacy of personal health information and the right of access to these records for individuals.
• The rapid extension of biotechnology (e.g. genomics) and information technology (computerised records) makes the provisions of this Bill a matter of urgency.
• We urge that this Bill carries a short sunset clause for frequent reviews.
• In cases of serious threat to life of an individual or to the public, disclosure should be mandated.
• After the required seven years of storage, records should be placed in archives where properly de-identified, they could be used for epidemiological and other research, rather than destroyed.
• To validate the concept of confidentiality, all personal information relating to provision of health service should be regulated by this Bill.
• Collection and disclosure of health data for law enforcement purposes should be defined and monitored strictly.
• The Bill should provide for referral of complex cases of “family circumstances” to an Ethics Committee to assess individual, cultural and personal needs.
• The public should be encouraged to prepare “advance directives” on all aspects of their health care.
• We support the sections of the Bill that ensure continuity of treatment by transfer of records.
• We believe that improper collection and disclosure of health information by the media should incur strong sanctions.
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2000.8. Essential Services, Victoria
Submitted 18 September 2000 to the Victorian Government (Services, Markets & Regulation Strategy?)
Published: Victorian Humanist, Nov. 2000: 4.
On the establishment of an Essential Services Commission (ESC) by the Victorian Government we commented as follows:
• We support the concept and hope that the ESC will act not only as an economic regulator, but will regard the social and environmental aspects of delivery of gas, water and electricity as highly important.
• In privatised services the needs and expectations of shareholders often prevail over those of the general public.
• The private sector avoids accountability under the commercial-in-confidence principle. We urge that this rule be rescinded for delivery of essential services so that their operations are transparent.
• We urge that Ambulance Services be included and regulated by the ESC.
• We list several compelling reasons to retain and regulate public transport under the ESC charter.
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2000.9. Availability of RU-486 (abortion pill)
Submitted 10 October 2000 to the Minister for Health, Australia.
Published: Victorian Humanist, Nov. 2000: 4.
On urging the Minister for Health, the Hon. Michael Wooldridge, to rescind the ban on the abortion pill RU-486 [mifepristone] we made the following points:
• The right of access to products that represent medical progress should be universal.
• We quoted the French Health Minister who legislated for the release of RU-486 saying that it is the moral property of women, not just the property of the drug company.
• We mentioned the now established safety of this procedure under medical supervision and cautioned against its unsupervised use when obtained via the Internet.
• We listed the large number of advantages of this drug and argued that RU-486 should not be denied to Australian Women while being available in most countries. We challenged the rationale on which the RU-486 is banned; i.e. the religious tenets of the few imposed on the whole society. In a secular state such a position is untenable, particularly when abortion is no longer illegal.
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2000.10. Asylum Seekers
Submitted 30 December 2000 to the Minister for Immigration, Australia, and the Prime Minister.
Published: Victorian Humanist, Feb. 2001: 4.
In our submission on the Treatment of Asylum Seekers, sent to Minister Philip Ruddock and the Prime Minister, we made the following points:
• Conditions in which the asylum seekers are detained breach the guidelines of the UN High Commission for Refugees
• The remoteness and the prison nature of the detention camps prevents contact with support groups and scrutiny of management procedures
• The private prison management is trained to deal with criminals only: most asylum seekers are genuine escapees from political and religious persecution.
• The length of detention under punishing conditions compares poorly with other countries with comparable number of asylum seekers, e.g. Sweden, where the maximum time is two months. Given good will and modern technology, health and security screening and status assessment should be a matter of a few weeks only.
• The extraordinary refusal to allow the UN, NGOs and church working groups to visit and observe our system of dealing with asylum seekers justifies suspicions of malpractice.
• We strongly urge the Government to heed the call by Amnesty International to release children and their mothers held in this type of detention.
• The current investigation into these matters should an impartial, full and open inquiry and not a departmental one.
• We note that Australia was one of the original drafters and a signatory of the 1951 Geneva Convention on the Status of Refugees.
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[End of 2000]
