TRAVEL REPORT The Hon. Michael Atkinson MP Attorney-General ...

In order for proposals for constitutional changes to succeed, there exist twodifferent procedures : one requires that the proposal first pass CantonalParliament and then sent to the State Parliament ; the second is to change theconstitution of the State, which includes passage through an upper house thatrepresents the Cantons . The latter is the system that is most used .The biggest challenges face the Ministry for Social Rights, which deals withdisplaced persons and also the Diaspora which is promoting several differentinitiatives . This month they were holding a conference in Sarajevo on HumanRights .On the question of gender representation in public office Dr Safet Halilovicsaid that their laws provide that every third position must be for a femaleappointment .The Attorney General noted that Bosnian Serbs seem to be attachingthemselves to the Serb community in South Australia, rather than identifyingas BiH .We were told that people outside the borders should not over-attachthemselves to theaims of the war. The most prominent multi-ethnic societiesare U .S .A . and Australia and for this reason they were very happy to welcomeus . It would be great, they said, to have an Australian embassy here .The Diaspora has the same rights to vote as residents . This year, there were50,000 registered BiHs residing overseas who have the right to vote, by post .But they had to face the reality that people living in other countries wereassimilating . Of the 200,000 in the U .S ., only 37,500 people were registeredin BiH . The Diaspora are organising Conferences etc . in which Australia had apresence . The largest numbers are in the U.S .A ., mostly in N Y . andChicago, but there is a great geographic spread across the U .S . through toCanada, particularly in Toronto . Across the U .S .A . the BiHs are veryfragmented .Some members of the Diaspora have dual citizenship rights but somecountries do not allow it . The U .S.A does not want any kind of bilateralagreement to regulate this . Sweden has signed an agreement they werecurrently negotiating one with Serbia . Austria and Germany do not permitdual citizenship .The Minister, Dr Safet Halilovic thanked the delegation for visiting and saidthat he was assured there would be good collaboration between the twocountries . He wished the delegation a good stay and hoped that the busyschedule would allow the possibility of properly seeing their city and how theypractice multiculturalism . He described Sarajevo like a small Jerusalem- onemore proof that multicultural, multi-ethnic countries can thrive and prosper andthat they would like to be a cultural mosaic of Europe .Travel Report, Hon. Michael Atkinson, MP. and Ms. Vini Ciccarello M.P., August, 2004 76