PM Transcripts

4JAUSTRALIA(
PRIME MINISTER PRESS STATEMENT NO. 409
9 DECEMBER, 1974.
POLITICAL RIGHTS OF WOMEN
The Australian Government has taken action to
accede to the UN Convention on the Political Rights of Women
and to ratify ILO Convention No. 100 ( Equal Remuneration).
Announcing this today, the Prime Minister, Mr.
Whitlam, said 10 December 1974 was a fitting date for
Australia to become a party to those two Conventions.
It was on 10 December 1948 that the United Nations General
Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The
purpose of that Declaration was to ensure fundamental rights
and freedoms for all persons, without discrimination of any
kind, arising from race, sex, religion and political or other
opinions. Since it came to power, the Government has sought to
pass legislation to guarantee fundamental rights without
discrimination on grounds of sex and to take other steps to
ensure that it acted in the spirit of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights. Mr. Whitlam said that the Government's decision to
become a party to these two Conventions was evidence, of its
desire to ensure that Australia's policies were soundly based
on respect for, and on the protection and enhancement of, civil
liberties and basic human rights for all its people, regardless
of their sex. The Government had signed the International
Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic,*"
Social and Cultural Rights and would proceed to ratification
of them as soon as enabling legislation had been passed by
Parliament. Australia would also ratify the International
Convention of the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination
as soon as Parliament had passed the appropriate legislation.
Mr. Whitlam said 1975 had been designated by the
United Nations as International Women's Year. The Government
had, since it came to office, been active in promoting equal
opportunities for women in all fields of public life and
ensuring that all discriminatory legislationf was removed which
might prevent women from taking their rightful place in society.
CANBERRA, A. C. T.