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Australia wrong-headed on rights

One thing the Howard Government could not be accused of is that it is a proponent of human rights - just to the contrary!

Thus, this op-ed piece, in The Age, from Brian Walters SC, President of Liberty Victoria, is more than a timely:

"Australians like to think that their country respects human rights. But our recent voting record at the UN suggests otherwise

Australia has a proud history as a pioneer in the field of human rights. We instituted the eight-hour day as early as the 1850s. We made available, well ahead of most of the world, free universal education. We were among the first to legislate for women's suffrage. The Harvester decision in 1907 resulted in the important safety net of the basic wage. In 1948, when the UN proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it was an Australian attorney-general, H. V. Evatt, who presided over that historic assembly.

But recently, Australia has taken a stubborn stand against human rights in the UN."

Reading Walters' list of the way Australia has voted at the UN, here, we should hang our collective heads in shame. And look at the company Australia has been keeping in the way it has voted. Yet another "legacy" of the Howard Government!

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