Isabella Gockel | Australian Foreign Policy Fellow
Image sourced from Stuart Munro via Unsplash.
On the 7th of March 2023, the Australian Government announced Mr Justin Mohamed as Australia’s inaugural Ambassador for First Nations People. The position, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs, requires “working in genuine partnership with First Nations communities, leaders and advocates on how Australia’s international engagement across foreign, trade, development and corporate policy can better support First Nations peoples.”
The position’s introduction is certainly a step in the right direction towards reconciliation and the empowerment of Indigenous voices across all levels of government. However, many international observers can’t help but view the position as performative – especially in light of Australia’s track record on Indigenous rights both domestically and transnationally.
When I was an exchange student in Montreal, Canada in early 2024, one of my classes highlighted Indigenous foreign policy in a comparative, global perspective. Sadly, I was not surprised when, in almost every case study of Indigenous rights, the professor classed Australia as the worst state for promoting First Nations’ rights among countries constructed on settler-colonialism.
A major emphasis was placed on Australia’s lack of treaties with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples nationwide. Although in recent years many states such as Queensland and Victoria have begun working towards treaty arrangements, there is yet no similar federal effort. The lack of a federal treaty is what the world sees and rightly judges Australia by.
New Zealand, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Japan, Greenland, and the US have all negotiated treaties with their Indigenous peoples. Although many of these treaties are ineffective or imperfect, they largely symbolise each state’s willingness to recognise First Nations’ habitation, use of own law, and practice of culture on the land that is legally recognised as a settler state today. Australia’s lack of treaty in the modern day signifies the state’s continued denial of these innate facts.
Our most recent referendum was also mentioned in class. I still vividly remember the confusion of my classmates when the professor mentioned that Australia’s Voice to Parliament for First Nations abjectly failed, with only 39% of Australians voting in favour. The questions that followed were relentless. Why did Australians oppose this instance of Indigenous self-determination? Why did Australians vote against a simple proposal that has existed in other settler states like Norway, Sweden, and Finland for decades? What were Australians afraid of?
The referendum’s results certainly impacted our international standing, but it was nothing new in terms of our international reputation concerning Indigenous issues.
In 2007, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). The Declaration is viewed as a major milestone in outlining the rights of Indigenous peoples both domestically and transnationally, and covers topics from education and language to health and employment. Australia was only one of four countries to vote against the Declaration; 144 states voted in favour, and 11 states abstained.
Although Australia has since changed its stance and now endorses the Declaration, the international community remembers how Australia voted in 2007 when first presented with the opportunity to support a historic human rights instrument.
When observers combine these international headlines with domestic headlines – such as news that only 5 out of 19 ‘Closing the Gap’ targets are on track in 2024, and that Rio Tinto was legally allowed to destroy a 46,000-year-old Aboriginal site to expand an iron ore mine – it’s evident that the appointment of an Ambassador for First Nations People feels insufficient in the push for Indigenous rights.
The 9th of August each year serves as the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, and this year Australia’s Ambassador for First Nations People joined Foreign Minister Penny Wong for the Pacific Island Forum’s Foreign Ministers Meeting. Although the Ambassador has made limited diplomatic appearances to date, his presence at the Pacific Islands Forum is certainly a welcome sight. His attendance represents the Australian Government’s commitment to elevating First Nations’ perspectives in their foreign policy and presents an opportunity for Australia to foster deeper connections within our Pacific region. It's doubtful, though, that international observers view these developments in isolation from Australia’s lacklustre history on Indigenous rights domestically.
In light of all this information, our Indigenous foreign policy and newly established Ambassador for First Nations People feel performative and insubstantial to the international community. If Australians want our Indigenous foreign policy initiatives to feel more meaningful on the world stage, then Australia’s domestic track record on Indigenous rights requires drastic change.
Isabella Gockel is the Australian Foreign Policy Fellow for Young Australians in International Affairs. She is a final-year Bachelor of Political Science and Bachelor of International Relations student at the Australian National University, majoring in Human Rights and minoring in French Language and Culture. Isabella is immensely passionate about the intersection of Australian politics, Australian foreign policy, and human rights.
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