Australia threatened yesterday to veto visits by United Nations human rights investigators and scale down participation in UN inquiries unless they are subjected to "effective reform".
Stung by what it sees as unjustified UN criticism of its policies towards Aborigines, the government also warned it will not sign up to a new UN complaints body under a treaty on discrimination against women.
The Foreign Minister, Mr Alexander Downer, the Immigration Minister, Mr Philip Ruddock, and the Attorney General, Mr Daryl Williams, issued the threats in response to a review of Australia's involvement in UN committees.
The review was ordered following criticism by UN committees of mandatory sentencing legislation in the Northern Territory, of Prime Minister John Howard's refusal to apologise to the so-called stolen generation of Aborigines, and of mandatory detention of asylum-seekers.
Mr Downer said Australia would only continue to co-operate with the UN treaty committee system if it was radically overhauled to recognise the right of democratically elected governments to make laws for their country.
Mr Williams said the UN committees had the wrong priorities, and paid too much attention to non-government organisations at the expense of democratic governments.
Under the changes, the government will only allow UN investigators into Australia if they have a compelling reason to visit.
Mr Williams said it was clear Australia's strong human rights record left little room for UN visits, compared to other nations with substantial human rights problems.
But the Labour opposition, Aborigines and human rights groups immediately condemned the decision.
"It is an astonishingly poor show by the government and to be deplored by all thinking Australians," opposition foreign affairs spokesman, Mr Laurie Brereton, said.