TAS: Tasmania condemns UN pull out

AAP General News (Australia)
08-30-2000
TAS: Tasmania condemns UN pull out

HOBART, Aug 30 AAP - The Tasmanian government today condemned the federal government's
withdrawal from United Nations treaty committees as childish and narrow minded.

It said the federal government should have consulted the states first.

Spokesperson for women Fran Bladel said women around the world would pay the cost of
Canberra's refusal to sign the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against
Women (CEDAW).

She said CEDAW was a powerful tool for improving the status of women in many countries.

Ms Bladel said the move sabotages Australia's reputaion for supporting and settling
international women's rights standards.

Premier Jim Bacon had written to Prime Minister John Howard last year in support of
the CEDAW protocol.

The federal government's short-sighted decision undermined the principle of consultation,
Ms Bladel said.

AAP dw

KEYWORD: UN AUST TAS

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