Rights and Freedoms
Firstly I would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we stand and by so doing remind ourselves that Australia's cultural traditions stretch back many thousands of years and express our aspirations for Australians of the future to be socially just and inclusive.
Rights and Freedoms
Allow me to start in the customary way. I would like to acknowledge the Ngunnawal people who are the traditional custodians of the land we are meeting at. Thank you for your invitation.
Commission – General
By way of preamble, it is clear the current climate of terrorism obviously requires governments to put in place measures that can effectively deal with a serious terrorist threat or event as soon as it is detected. Parliament cannot wait until potential dangers eventuate. It is understandable – indeed it is necessary in advance - to put in place measures that can deal with the worst case scenario that could arise.
Commission – General
I would like to begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nation, and pay my respects to their elders past and present.
Commission – General
I would like to acknowledge the Larrakia people on whose traditional land we meet today. I would also like to thank the Northern Territory Anti-Discrimination Commission for hosting this event at such short notice. What I plan to do today is to talk briefly about a few of the issues which are currently on HREOC’s agenda. The first issue is HREOC’s Same-Sex Same Entitlements Inquiry.
Commission – General
In keeping with the theme of today's awards, I want to welcome you all here to celebrate our local champions, many of whom are with us as nominees for the 2004 Human Rights Medal and Human Rights Awards.
Legal
It would clearly test to destruction the tolerance of the ordinary red-blooded Australian to have a Pom getting off the plane from London and telling them how to run their country. So I shall not presume to say how the current human rights debate in this country should be resolved. But perhaps I may contribute some thoughts, prompted by our own experience in the United Kingdom, acknowledging as I do so that the Australian context, while in some ways similar, is in others significantly different.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
I would like to begin by acknowledging the Nyoongar people, the traditional owners of the land we are meeting on today. I pay my respects to their elders past and present. I thank you Kim Collard for your warm welcome.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
Thank you to Andrea Durbach and the Australian Human Rights Centre for the invitation to speak tonight, and also to Amber Rowe for her organisation of this event.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
Thank you Sharron for your introduction, and thank you Uncle Lewis O’Brien for your warm welcome to country. And congratulations to the Taikurtinna Dancers for a great performance and oration.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
I’d like to begin by acknowledging the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, the traditional owners and custodians of the land where we are gathered today, and pay my respects to their elders.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
Thank you for attending this press conference to discuss the release of the Social Justice Report and Native Title Report for 2002. As you would be aware, these reports are the annual report card on the government's performance on Indigenous issues and native title.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
I am honoured to present this distinguished lecture, which has been established as a tribute to the contribution of Sir Wallace Kyle to Western Australian society.
Disability Rights
I wrote the title for this presentation almost a year ago when I was first asked to give it. I came back to it two weeks ago to write the actual paper and thought "what does this mean?"
Disability Rights
Thank you for the opportunity to speak here today, World Mental Health Day. I am very pleased that World Mental Health Day this year is dedicated to the theme Human Rights and Mental Health. This theme recognises that mental health issues are human rights issues - a view argued strongly and consistently by our Human Rights Commission for many years.
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