Aboriginal lawmaker Liao Kuo-tung says that Australia has shown interest in the government’s indigenous policy.
Liao is an Amis aborigine. He represents the lowland aboriginal constituency, and also serves as the KMT’s caucus leader. He was referring to steps the government has taken to recognize indigenous autonomy on indigenous land. These include President Tsai Ing-wen’s designation of a village in Taitung County as a pilot zone for aboriginal self-government.
Liao said that while Taiwan’s aboriginal policy still has problems, he believes that overall progress has been good. He said he recently met with Richard Neumann, Australia’s deputy representative in Taipei, to discuss indigenous policy.
Liao said he believes that Taiwan and Australia can learn from one another in this area. He said that Taiwan and Australia are close together both in terms of population size and in the percentage of indigenous people in the overall population. Liao said that Australia is particularly interested in Taiwan’s designation of a pilot zone for aboriginal autonomy as Canberra faces calls for autonomy from Aboriginal Australians in the Northern Territory.