Australia pulls out of anti-racism conference
Updated
The Australian government won't be participating in a United Nations anti-racism conference due to begin in Geneva later today.
The Durban Review Conference is supposed to find ways to fight racism, xenophobia and discrimination. The first conference in 2001 ended in uproar over anti-Semitic comments made by some of the delegates. Australia's Foreign Minister Stephen Smith believes this latest summit in Geneva is headed the same way and he says Australia will join the United States and others in staying away.
Presenter: Oscar McLaren
Speakers: Stephen Smith, Australia's Foreign Minister; John Langmore, president of the United Nations Association of Australia
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OSCAR MCLAREN: Over recent months, there's been fierce debate about the upcoming Durban Review Conference. Now countries including the US, Canada and Israel have decided to boycott the event which starts today.
The Foreign Minister Stephen Smith says Australia will join them, and he's expecting Germany and New Zealand to follow.
STEPHEN SMITH: We, together with other nations, have worked very hard to try and get an appropriate text for the conference, but the text to be presented to the conference starts with a reaffirmation of the Durban I conference, and for us that's unacceptable.
OSCAR MCLAREN: But the former Labor MP, John Langmore, who's the president of the United Nations Association of Australia, says criticisms of the upcoming conference have been exaggerated.
And he fears that the absence of countries like Australia means the proceedings are more likely to go down an unfortunate path.
JOHN LANGMORE: There's nothing objectionable of the kind that is being feared in the draft outcome document. So if you want to maintain that, or improve it in some way, it's much better to be there than to stay away. I'm really quite astonished.
OSCAR MCLAREN: Israel has been the chief opponent of the new round. But the Foreign Minister says he's consulted widely over this decision.
STEPHEN SMITH: Well, obviously I bear in mind what interested parties in Australia say, but if all I was doing was following what the Australian or international Jewish community had put to me, then Australia would have withdrawn some considerable time ago.
OSCAR MCLAREN: John Langmore says an Australian boycott will serve to confuse the Government's domestic stance on racial discrimination.
JOHN LANGMORE: Australia has a poor record of racial discrimination in the past. We now have a government that clearly is committed to trying to end racial discrimination and has done a number of things recently which are important steps in that direction.
To stay away from a global conference with that goal of reducing racial discrimination is to suggest a weakening of that commitment.
OSCAR MCLAREN: And he's calling on all countries to be more open to criticism on their own records.
JOHN LANGMORE: It's important that every country allow itself to be party to this kind of discussion. No country has a perfect record on racism, and that's certainly true of us, it's certainly true of the US and it's certainly true of Israel. And to pretend otherwise is just nonsense.
