British MPs have warned of a possible boycott of the Sydney 2000 Olympics unless the Australian government changes key legislation on land title for Aborigines, one of the parliamentarians said yesterday. In a letter to Prime Minister John Howard, the British parliamentary human rights group suggested the government's approach to the legislation was placing Australia's reputation at risk, said MP Jeremy Corben.
He told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation he hoped to convey his concerns to Howard at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Edinburgh this week.
Aborigines in Australia suffered high levels of unemployment and infant mortality, lower life expectancy and much poorer living standards than the rest of the population, Corben said.
He said the new legislation could remove their existing rights to negotiate native title for a huge amount of land.
The MPs were concerned about human rights of Aboriginal people and had written a "fairly firm letter", he said, which referred to the possibility of a boycott of the Sydney Olympics.
