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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 11 Hansard (10 December) . . Page.. 3448 ..

MR WOOD (continuing):

For example, respite care is very much a function of Mr Moore, but respite care is also provided through Mr Stefaniak's ministry, so I am sure that the committee will be asking Mr Stefaniak and expecting support from Mr Stefaniak for us to look at the aspects of respite care provided through his department. I give notice of that. I do not think that there will be any problems. I thank the Minister for his indication of support. I look forward to bringing down the report some time in the future.

Motion (by Mr Humphries) agreed to:

That Executive business be called on.

MS CARNELL (Chief Minister and Treasurer) (11.54): Mr Speaker, I move:

That this Assembly, on the occasion of the fiftieth Anniversary of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, affirms its commitment to uphold the principles enunciated in that Declaration.

Today, 10 December 1998, we celebrate the fact that 50 years ago on this day in 1948 the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations. The declaration was one of the first major achievements of the United Nations and after 50 years remains a powerful instrument which continues to exert an enormous effect on people's lives all over the world. This was the first time in history that a document considered to have universal value was adopted by an international organisation. It was also the first time that human rights and fundamental freedoms were set forth in detail. There was broad-based international support for the declaration when it was adopted.

The adoption of the universal declaration stems in large part from the strong desire for peace in the aftermath of the Second World War. Although the 58 member states which formed the United Nations at that time varied in their ideologies, political systems, religious and cultural backgrounds and had different socioeconomic development, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights represented a common statement of goals and aspirations - a vision of the world as the international community would want it to become. As the UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan stated, "Human rights are foreign to no culture and are native to all nations".

The theme of the fiftieth anniversary of this Magna Carta for all humanity is "All Human Rights for All". The theme highlights the universality, indivisibility and the interrelationship of all human rights. It reinforces the idea that human rights, civil, cultural, economic, political and social, should be taken in their totality and not dissociated from one another.

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