Page 3588 - Week 12 - Thursday, 20 September 1990
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
the convention raised by Mr Stevenson last year. I will not waste the Assembly's time repeating that information. However, I will say that the ministerial statement disclosed that Mr Stevenson had only partially read and understood the convention.
The rights of the child are an integral part of human rights and as such are under the umbrella of the text of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. However, for those people who have no legal background, like myself, it may help to explain that declarations are what is known as soft law. They are statements of general principles which carry no specific obligations as such. Conventions, on the other hand, are binding or hard law, requiring an active decision by states to ratify or submit to them. States that sign the conventions indicate their intention to comply with the provisions and obligations they contain. That compliance is usually monitored.
On 20 November 1959, a 10-point declaration on the rights of a child was adopted unanimously by the General Assembly of the United Nations. The Convention on the Rights of the Child supplements rather than replaces the 1959 declaration. The proposal of this convention was launched by Poland prior to the International Year of the Child in 1979.
The United Nations has been working on this document for the last 10 years and Australian delegates have been actively involved in the drafting process. During the development of the convention and lately regarding its signature, the Commonwealth has been meticulous in its communication with the States and Territories. I am pleased that such assistance from the Commonwealth officers has been given so that all governments in Australia fully understand the implications of Australia signing the convention.
The Australian Ambassador to the United Nations signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child on 22 August this year. At that time, the minor concerns of the ACT and other States were known by both the Prime Minister and the Commonwealth Attorney-General.
Mr Speaker, I am pleased that the ACT was able to indicate support for the convention. I believe that by doing so we have made a public commitment to the well-being of our children.
MR HUMPHRIES (Minister for Health, Education and the Arts) (4.40): Mr Speaker, I rise to speak very briefly on the subject, to put the - - -
Members interjected.
MR HUMPHRIES: I just want to state the position of the Liberal Party very clearly. There has been some discussion about this in Liberal Party ranks and I think it is worth
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .