Kevin Rudd. Photo / Reuters
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will come under growing pressure to negotiate a treaty with Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders in the wake of April's 2020 conference.
The case for a treaty has been restated in the final report of the conference, convened by Rudd to pick the brains
of 1000 Australians in a bid to find new directions for the nation and Government policy.
Rudd has not committed the Government to any of the report's recommendations, although some - including a review of the taxation system - have already been adopted or are in the policy pipeline.
Releasing the report, he said discussions would continue until the Government made its final response by the end of the year.
"The Government has maintained throughout this process our support for concrete ideas that set out a practical approach to nation-building, and this will be reflected in our response," Rudd said.
The 400-page report includes recommendations, ideas and debates in a range of policy areas, from productivity and the economy to indigenous issues and the environment.
Rudd has already delivered a formal apology and has accepted the need for some form of recognition, but has given no deadline.
The 2020 conference final report includes demands for Rudd to enter the political minefield of a negotiated treaty, the difficulties of which did not escape the conference.
The report reflected support for the "enshrining" of formal, legal, recognition of Australia's indigenous peoples, although there was no consensus on whether this should be an agreement, pact, treaty, Bill of Rights or constitutional amendment. There was also concern that the notion of a treaty would alarm sections of the community.
But two working groups placed priority on a treaty, arguing "without a clear place in this country, nothing else will happen," and that it would give indigenous Australians a level playing field.
"A treaty would clarify engagement between indigenous and non-indigenous people, enable a national approach, formally provide for reparation and redress, and enhance indigenous elders ability for cultural revival, as in New Zealand," one group's report said.
