Treaty Talk 2002: Notes on three conferences

In Arena Magazine and elsewhere, a number of indigenous intellectuals have been advancing a 'rights-based' approach to a treaty in Australia. Against a Howard Government that insists that only 'practical reconciliation' matters (and which poohpoohs international scrutiny that invokes human rights instruments) it has been important to make space for a principled approach to Indigenous affairs. There have been two challenges for proponents of the 'rights' approach.