Australian Aboriginal News & Current Affairs

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Govt considers renaming 'Nigger' stand

Extract from Australian Broadcasting Corporation - ABC Online, on 24 Apr 2003

 

The Federal Government says it will consider a United Nations recommendation calling for the word 'nigger' to be removed from signage at a southern Queensland sports ground.

The sign at the Toowoomba Sports Ground honours former Test footballer Edward Stanley "Nigger" Brown.

Aboriginal activist Stephen Hagan appealed to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, after failing to convince Australian courts and governments to stop the use of the word nigger.

The UN has upheld Mr Hagan's belief that the term nigger is offensive, saying it should be removed from the Toowoomba grandstand.

The Federal Government says while it takes international human rights obligations seriously, the matters raised have already been considered thoroughly by Australian courts.

The Government says it is confident Australia's domestic courts, which found no racial discrimination in this case, were second to none in the world.

Furthermore, the Government says the UN committee is not a court and does not adopt the rigorous judicial standards employed by Australian courts.

 

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