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22 Pac. Rim L. & Pol'y J. 247 (2013)
UNDRIP and the Intervention: Indigenous Self-Determination, Participation, and Racial Discrimination in the Northern Territory of Australia

handle is hein.journals/pacrimlp22 and id is 259 raw text is: 247 UNDRIP AND THE INTERVENTION: INDIGENOUS SELF-DETERMINATION, PARTICIPATION, AND RACIAL DISCRIMINATION IN THE NORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA Anna Cowan t Abstract: The adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) by the General Assembly in 2007 was a landmark achievement in the development of indigenous rights under international law, particularly through its unequivocal recognition of indigenous peoples' right to self-determination. That same year, Australia launched a comprehensive Intervention into Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory, which purported to safeguard important human rights but was heavily criticized for its discriminatory and non-consultative approach. This article explores the meaning of self-determination under international law, now that the long debate over whether indigenous peoples are peoples has finally been resolved. It then uses the result of that analysis as the basis for a critique of Australia's methodology in the Intervention. The article argues that self-determination entails the right of a people to control their own affairs through freedom from discrimination and meaningful participation in decision-making, and that the scope of self-determination must be the same for indigenous peoples as for 'all peoples' under international law. When assessed against these criteria, it is clear that Australia's Intervention methodology fell well short of the requirements of empowerment inherent in these established and evolving international human rights standards. As Australia moves beyond the Intervention towards Stronger Futures it is imperative that the mistakes of an approach based on discrimination and a failure to foster genuine participation by Aboriginal peoples are not continued. The lessons of the Intervention are relevant for other states beyond Australia as the international community moves to implement the standards in UNDRIP. I. INTRODUCTION Let us never forget this: ... Australia's treatment of her aboriginal people will be the thing upon which the rest of the world will judge Australia and Australians-not just now, but in the greater perspective of history.' t LL.B (Hons) (Victoria Univ. of Wellington, NZ), BA (Victoria Univ. of Wellington, NZ), LL.M (University of Cambridge, UK). Research Associate to Professor James Crawford SC, Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, Cambridge, UK and formerly solicitor in the civil law section at the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency, Darwin, Australia. Many thanks to Dr. Jessie Hohmann, Jonathon Hunyor and Cecily Rose for their useful comments and advice. Any errors are my own. None of the views expressed here purport to reflect the views of my current or previous employers. 1 Extract from 1972 speech by former Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, in E.G. WHITLAM, ON AUSTRALIA'S CONSTITUTION 301 (1977). As the author does not identify as either Australian or indigenous, the arguments in this article are presented from the perspective of an interested observer, in the style of Ian Brownlie, The Rights ofPeoples in Modern International Law, in THE RIGHTS OF PEOPLES 1-16 (James Crawford ed., 1988).

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