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RECONCILIATION TO CONTINUE BEYOND 2000 Chairperson Evelyn Scott today said that the Council is still actively seeking broad national agreement on a reconciliation document to take the nation a significant step forward in the reconciliation process by the end of this year. "All the indications are that we can achieve this, especially if the broad cross-party support at all levels of government continues," Ms Scott said. Ms Scott said the Council is on track to deliver its document on May 27 at Corroboree 2000, but that it had never set itself a deadline of 31 December 2000 to achieve reconciliation. "In that sense, the Prime Minister is saying nothing new when he notes that the process will not be concluded by the end of this year," Ms Scott said. "However, I would be concerned if anyone has the view that somehow our proposal about a document is just about a set of words rather than addressing the real issues. "In fact, achieving social justice for Indigenous people through improving service delivery and a range of other measures are fundamental parts of our document. "What is important is that when the Council folds at the end of this year, we have a document which the whole nation can commit to and which will set a framework through which we can tackle these issues and continue the reconciliation process. "The Council has always said that reconciliation is built on a people’s movement, and this will be a people’s document. "I do hope cross-party support will continue, and I will continue to seek that support," Ms Scott said. Ms Scott said she was disappointed that a part of the Council’s independently commissioned research into reconciliation had been released to the media before the research was completed or ready to be publicly released. "Any reference to that research at this stage is premature and misleading," Ms Scott said. CANBERRA 28 February 2000
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