Melissa Hargraves
Music and messages of hope and inclusion were cause for celebration at the Human Rights Day concert held in Lismore yesterday.
Most notably, many speakers talked of the need for human rights to not be seen in isolation from nature and its diversity of species.
Michael Douglas spoke on behalf of Sanctuary Northern Rivers about refugee rights and democracy.
Mr Douglas outlined basic needs of human development as health, education, food, shelter and hope. Mr Douglas said that ‘with our privilege, wealth, passion and many voices come responsibility.’
He also acknowledged the Indigenous peoples of Australia as being victim to the ‘greed of the dominant culture that prevails with its impervious arrogance and quells such hope.’
Dr Ros Irwin spoke in place of Zenith Virago of women’s rights.
‘I think it is one of the biggest issues facing the world,’ Dr Irwin said. ‘Women make up over 50 per cent of the world and a lot of those women do not feel safe in their homes or streets. This is a major concern.’
Arquimedes Monroe Wanderlust spoke about the right to determine one’s own sexual identification.
‘I am very lucky to live in a country where as a transgender person I do not have to decide on my passport for example whether I am male or female,’ said Mr Wanderlust.
‘But I am still frightened what public toilets I use. I am lucky that I can walk freely in this country as a gay person and not be prosecuted like in 76 other countries on this planet.’
Jill Garsden said that Human Rights Day was of particular pertinence because ‘we are celebrating the life of Nelson Mandela who said, “to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others”.
‘This statement is relevant to the second reason of pertinence as today Lismore City Council will seek directive from the state government to fluoridate our water,’ Ms Garsden said.
‘The UN Universal Declaration on Bio Ethics and Human Rights says that any preventative, diagnostic and therapeutic intervention is only to be carried out with the prior informed consent of the person concerned, based on adequate information.
‘The consent should, where appropriate, be expressed, and may be withdrawn by the person concerned at any time for any reason without disadvantage or prejudice.’
Ms Garsden said that the only decision that respects and enhances freedom to choose fluoride is for council to not fluoridate.
‘Saying no to fluoridation is our human right,’ she said.
Lorraine Vass from Friends of the Koala (FOK) spoke on behalf of animal rights, particularly those of koalas.
‘It really takes me back to 2008 when Australians were debating a human rights charter and a few of us thought we should try and come up with a koala charter,’ Ms Vass said.
Ms Vass said some of the rights in the koala charter include recognising that koalas are one of the most well known marsupials, however they are also a vulnerable species whose well being is wholly dependent on the conservation and restoration of their remaining habitat.
‘Koalas are defenceless from the exploitation and abuse by humans and are entitled to our respect, care and protection. The basic rights need to be protected to be able to live free in habitat ecologically sufficient for their healthy existence.’
Animal rights have a long way to go in this country according to Ms Vass.
‘I want you all to think that it is not just one species in this world, we share it with so many others,’ Ms Vass said.
The river systems were also acknowledged as deserving rights by Kristin Den Exter of Wilsons River Landcare Group.
‘I am here to stand up for the river and water,’ Ms Den Exter said.
‘It travels through the heart of our catchment, we are lucky here in Lismore that we have two rivers that meet here. The river is like ourselves, what we do to the river we do to ourselves.’
Ms Den Exter explained how the river was the first place to be cleared of trees on European settlement.
‘These people were not like the Indigenous people here before who existed with the beautiful native vegetation and habitat,’ she said.
Human rights extend to healing, according to Ms Den Exter, who has discovered through their river rehabilitation work that you can ‘heal yourself, the river and the community through this work’.
Lismore councillor Vanessa Ekins spoke of land rights and acknowledged the recent Native Title determination at Evans Head for the Bandjalang people.
‘That determination took 17 years which is a hideously long amount of time. In some states of Australia it was done straight away,’ Cr Ekins said, ‘but in NSW our local and state government fought bitterly every step of the way for exclusions and exemptions for the whole lot.’
Cr Ekins expressed the importance of Indigenous peoples to be able to access country and suggested people touch the earth with their feet.
‘Take your shoes off as soon as you can and dance on the earth,’ she said.
SCU lecturer in law Aidan Ricketts spoke on coal and gas mining.
‘This is more than just mining and land owner’s rights, it is about the heart of our democracy as well, which is in crisis’, Mr Ricketts said.
‘We need to expand our concept of human rights and start to realise that our rights are co-existent with the rights of nature,’ he said.
Dr Irwin chaired the concert, which saw performances by Luke Vassella, Blakboi, Africa United Gospel Group, One Breath choir, Peter Lehner, Healing Voices Choir, Winsome Lose Some Gospel Choir and the Barefoot Gypsies.
Local community radio station River FM broadcast the event live to air.
The United Nations (UN) General Assembly proclaimed December 10 as Human Rights Day in 1950 to bring to the attention of the peoples of the world the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as the common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations.
The UN general assembly created the mandate of High Commissioner for the promotion and protection of all human rights in Dec 1993. The General Assembly was acting on a recommendation from delegates to the World Conference on Human Rights held in Vienna earlier the same year.
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