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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 6 Hansard (24 May) . . Page.. 1706 ..

MS CARNELL (continuing):

also provided a submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional References Committee inquiry into the stolen generation, outlining actions taken to address recommendations of the Bringing them home report. This government has consistently made its position clear in relation to this issue and considers it inappropriate for us to be censuring another government. Similarly, we would have serious trouble in other governments attempting to censure us on issues that a majority in this place had passed.

The third issue is the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation's Australian Declaration Towards Reconciliation. This part of the motion is simply premature. The Australian Declaration Towards Reconciliation is a component of the two documents scheduled to be launched as part of Corroboree 2000 this Saturday, May 27. I am pleased to be attending the Corroboree 2000 celebrations and will witness the launch of the documents Corroboree 2000: Towards Reconciliation, which includes the declaration, and Roadmap for Reconciliation, which includes four national strategies to advance reconciliation.

Following this, all governments will be in a position to give the documents due consideration, and I would hope we debate them in this place. All governments will then be invited to respond to the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation prior to November 2000. It is expected that the council will then present its findings to the Commonwealth parliament.

As I said earlier, this government is keen to ensure that the wider reconciliation process continues. However, this motion, as it stands, does not advance the process which will be spelt out in the documents that will be handed to state and federal leaders on Saturday. The amendment I propose is an effort to capture the genuine goodwill of members of this Assembly towards reconciliation. It is, I believe, a timely expression of support and positive leadership by the Assembly at the beginning of Reconciliation Week. It is an opportunity to capture the spirit of reconciliation that we have all spoken about so often.

As I noted earlier, the government is supportive of Mr Stanhope's sentiments, to reaffirm the Assembly's support for ongoing reconciliation, but the action of writing to the Prime Minister on the issues raised is not, in the government's view, a progressive way forward. Instead, I suggest that we take this opportunity to write to the chair of the Council for Reconciliation expressing appreciation of, and support for, the work of the council over the years.

It is appropriate, as the Council for Reconciliation approaches the end of its term, that the extraordinary work of its council members be acknowledged and applauded. Throughout the years, under the leadership initially of Mr Patrick Dodson and more recently Mrs Evelyn Scott, the council has had discussions and negotiations with governments and communities across Australia. We can imagine that this has not always been an easy process.

Corroboree 2000 and the associated celebrations in Sydney and in towns and cities across Australia provide a unique opportunity for people of all backgrounds to celebrate the progress towards reconciliation and to publicly express individual commitment and support to the ongoing process, a support I am sure we all feel. As you know, I have the pleasure of representing the government at Corroboree 2000 in Sydney on Saturday, and

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