Church leaders in the Northern Territory are calling on Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to act on a UN expert's findings on indigenous rights. The UN's special rapporteur Professor James Anaya has called for the reinstatement of the Racial Discrimination Act, saying the intervention into Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory, and their impact on the communities, were "overtly discriminatory", the Sydney Morning Herald cites from an AAP report.
Compulsory welfare income management, land takeovers and alcohol bans were evidence of the double standards that exist in Australia, Professor Anaya found.
The Anglican Bishop of the Northern Territory, Greg Thompson is urging the Rudd government to reform the controversial measures.
"(Do) not diminish the spirit of the apology by subverting universal human rights of first Australians in the Northern Territory," he said in a statement.
"Such a policy foundation based on coercion is a return to the repertoires of colonisation.
"The visit from Professor James Anaya has given our government the opportunity to openly review its current policies and its international obligations to Aboriginal people," said Catholic Bishop Eugene Hurley of the Diocese of Darwin.
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