Chairperson: Mr. ALSTON
later: Mr. MUTERAHEJURU
Organization of work (continued)
Consideration of reports (continued)
(a) Reports submitted by States parties in accordance with articles 16 and 17 of the Covenant (continued)
Australia (continued)
ORGANIZATION OF WORK (agenda item 2) (continued)
1. The CHAIRPERSON, resuming the discussion suspended at the close of the previous meeting, reminded members that Mr. Kouznetsov had raised the question of what mechanism the Committee should use to secure States' consent to appear before it on a specified date. He himself had proposed indicating that unless the Committee heard otherwise, it would assume that the date specified in its letter was acceptable.
2. Mr. SIMMA thought that an expression such as "force majeure" should be avoided. The concern might perhaps be met by adding some phrase between commas such as ", except in exceptional circumstances,".
3. Mr. KOUZNETSOV pointed out that situations such as the one currently obtaining in the Russian Federation with regard to elections might enable some States to invoke the concept of force majeure almost indefinitely. The adoption of Mr. Simma's suggestion would eliminate that problem.
4. The CHAIRPERSON said that he would submit a draft to the Committee later that week.
5. Mr. Muterahejuru took the Chair.
CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS (agenda item 5) (continued)
(a) REPORTS SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIES IN ACCORDANCE WITH ARTICLES 16 AND 17 OF THE COVENANT (continued)
Australia (E/1990/7/Add.13) (continued)
6. The CHAIRPERSON invited the Australian delegation to continue its replies to the oral questions put by members of the Committee.
7. Mr. JONES (Australia) began by explaining that, under the Federal system, the Commonwealth took responsibility for collection of income tax, sales taxes and fuel tax, while the States had a comparatively limited revenue base relying on the payroll tax (a tax levied on enterprises with a payroll of over $800,000), stamp duty levied on real estate transactions, and monies collected in the form of fines. However, each year an agreement was negotiated between the Commonwealth and the States on the proportion of total Commonwealth revenue to be handed over to the States for their own purposes. Thus, it was not easy to give a precise answer to questions concerning the relative proportion of Commonwealth and State revenue devoted to funding education and other services, since such expenditure fell into three broad categories: first, monies collected by the Commonwealth and given to the States for educational and other purposes; secondly, monies raised from States' own revenue; and thirdly, those monies paid directly to systems by the Commonwealth which did not pass through the State apparatus.
8. Universities and further education systems were now funded directly by the Commonwealth, while schools were still State-funded. A misleading impression might thus be gained that the Commonwealth was funding more expenditure in the Catholic than in the State school system. In point of fact, if account was taken of the direct Commonwealth grant to the States (which could be regarded as taxpayers' money redirected through the States), that was not the case. In effect, the Commonwealth determined the overall level of expenditure in all services.
9. In response to questions concerning the exercise of religion, his delegation had obtained figures derived from the most recent census, carried out in 1991. It was important to note that respondents had the option not to answer the question concerning their religion. Seventy-four per cent of respondents had described themselves as Christian, and 2.6 per cent as non-Christian; while the remainder had described themselves as having no religion, had not answered the question, or had provided answers that were not readily classifiable. Of those describing themselves as Christians, 27.3 per cent were Catholics and 23.9 per cent members of the Anglican Church of Australia. 8.2 per cent belonged to the Uniting Church (comprising elements of the Presbyterian and Methodist Churches), 2.8 per cent to the Orthodox Church, and 1.5 per cent to the Lutheran Church. Members of the Catholic Church tended to be more active and committed than Anglicans.
10. Among non-Christians, Buddhism accounted for 0.8 per cent of the total, Islam for 0.9 per cent, Judaism for 0.4 per cent, and other religions for 0.5 per cent. It would be fair to say that Australia was essentially a highly secular society. Where the organization of school systems was concerned, the Catholic school system was physically bigger than the independent school system, but not necessarily more influential.
11. With regard to other languages, the 1991 census had sought to determine the language spoken at home by persons aged 5 years and over. English was spoken by 82.6 per cent of the population, followed by Italian (2.6 per cent), Greek (1.8 per cent), Chinese (1.6 per cent - a figure which might include a number of recent immigrants whose languages was in fact Vietnamese), Arabic (0.9 per cent), and German (0.7 per cent).
12. With regard to Mr. Rattray's specific question concerning multiculturalism, Australians would thus in any case find it hard to agree as to what was their country's second language. In his opinion, Australia's experience of multiculturalism was an unparalleled success, since immigrants tended to leave behind the antagonisms and tensions characteristic of their country of origin on their arrival in Australia. Multiculturalism was in fact very much a one-way process, with immigrants keen to join the mainstream English-speaking culture. Because the number of speakers of each significant minority language was so small, there was little incentive for English-speakers to study languages such as Italian or Greek. Still less was there any linguistic interchange between speakers of minority languages (between Italian- and Greek-speakers for example).
13. It had to be admitted that Australia's record concerning the teaching and learning of foreign languages was not good, a state of affairs for which its geographical isolation was partly to blame. Traditionally, Australians had been taught French, for no better reason than that France was the closest continental neighbour to the United Kingdom, whose educational system Australia had inherited. In spite of the fact that there were virtually no French immigrants in Australia, French continued to be the foreign language most frequently taught, since it was the foreign language that most teachers had themselves learned. Opinions differed as to what foreign language ought in fact to be taught. Some advocated Indonesian, the language of Australia's closest neighbour; and Indonesian was indeed taught in some schools. Some favoured Japanese, the language of Australia's chief trading partner. Others favoured Chinese, the language of the country with the largest population and the strongest growth rate, and one with which Australia enjoyed good relations. It was also argued that the choice of language should be dictated by cultural rather than economic and commercial considerations. That debate had still to be resolved; meanwhile, it seemed probable that Japanese would eventually displace French as the foreign language most taught in schools.
14. Paragraphs 251 to 267 of the report, covering broadcasting in Australia, several times referred to the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). In his view, the report did not sufficiently emphasize the important role played by SBS in Australian cultural life. SBS was a nationwide television and radio network that provided an independent news service of high quality, concentrating on international news, and the bulk of whose feature material derived from non-English-speaking cultures (such as France, Germany, Scandinavia and Spain, whose populations, incidentally, were not strongly represented in the immigrant community). SBS had originally been targeted on that community; but in practice, the cultural diversity it offered found a much wider audience.
15. Multiculturalism had become a very important factor in Australian life, and a source of justifiable pride. Latterly, it had become a fairly sensitive political issue. The view that Australia was a monocultural society, to which immigrants should conform, was countered by the view, espoused by the Labour Government, that multiculturalism was a means of mutual enrichment to which it was not sufficient to pay mere lip service. Multiculturalism had been an important issue at the March 1993 election, and had been strongly endorsed, not just by the minority communities, but also by the English-speaking community.
16. In relation to the arts and the cinema, he noted that Australia was successfully developing its film culture, on occasion in conjunction with New Zealand, and had recently won a number of film awards.
17. In reply to the question concerning opportunities for young women in the sciences, it was true to say that cultural barriers still had to be overcome by young women wishing to embark on scientific careers in some areas; while a considerable number of women were entering the area of biological sciences -biochemistry and biotechnology - as well as medicine and dentistry, the increase in the percentage of young women in physics, chemistry, mathematics and related areas was small. One difficulty was the absence of female role models, while another was possibly that of returning to such careers after a break of some years for family reasons.
18. In response to the request for information on the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, it should be noted that that body comprised a part-time President, a full-time Human Rights Commissioner and a number of full-time Commissioners, each responsible for one of a number of areas, including sex discrimination, race discrimination, privacy, disability discrimination and Aboriginal social justice. While there were no State representatives to that body, it had cooperative arrangements with a number of States and was working closely with several committees, including a tripartite committee comprising State, enterprise and trade union representatives. There was no direct relationship between it and the Director of Public Prosecutions.
19. Concerning the aged and the elderly, most State governments had a system of "senior cards" offering concessionary arrangements for public transport and access to public cultural centres; those arrangements were also recognized by the private service sector. The Commonwealth Office of the Aged was in the process of developing a strategy on ageing and well-being. In addition, a number of State and local educational bodies were taking steps to provide opportunities to that group to participate actively in cultural life. The International Day of the Elderly was celebrated on 1 October. The Commonwealth Office of the Aged had also been involved in preparing a national Statement on Ageing, 1982-1992, which had been presented in the context of the Tenth Anniversary of the International Plan of Action on Ageing. The Commonwealth Parliamentary Committee on Long-term Strategies, which he himself chaired, had prepared a report on Changing expectations of life - some options for the twenty-first century, drawing attention to the sharp increase in life expectancy and the need to consider opportunities to put the skills of older people to use in the community.
20. Mr. GRISSA asked what criteria had been adopted for the allocation of Commonwealth funds for education and whether there were any restrictions of colour or race in migration.
21. Mr. JONES (Australia) said that the Premiers of the six States and two Territories of Australia met annually with the Prime Minister and Treasurer to establish financial allocations throughout Australia. The special characteristics of the different States and Territories - such as the size of South West Australia or the remoteness of the island of Tasmania - were taken into account on that occasion but there were no striking disparities in patterns of State expenditure.
22. On migration, the "white Australia policy" had been abolished officially in the 1970s and in practice somewhat earlier. As there were many more applicants for immigration than places available, priority was given, for example, to cases of family reunion, humanitarian grounds, or persons having professional qualifications which were in demand.
23. Mr. WILLIS (Australia) said, in reply to the question on the demand for and availability of Australia's report to the Committee, details were not available but that a certain amount of interest had been expressed by some academics and that the report was freely available to persons wishing to consult it. It might indeed be possible in the future to do more to publicize such reports.
24. In reply to Mrs. Bonoan-Dandan's question concerning cultural relations and her comment that the recent exhibitions of Aboriginal art and culture organized in the Philippines had not been accompanied by Aboriginal experts, he observed that Australia had been making a special effort for the International Year for the World's Indigenous People to send exhibitions on Aboriginal art, artefacts and culture in general to as many countries as possible. Indeed, arrangements were currently being made for an exhibition of Aboriginal art in the Palais des Nations in Geneva in the summer of 1993. The general aim was to disseminate as widely as possible, and to the extent permitted by funding, manifestations of the culture of the first Australians. Events were also being organized in Australia itself to celebrate the International Year for the World's Indigenous People, with the emphasis on a new partnership among Australians, in the form of seminars and conferences on indigenous issues. The Government had also funded the secondment of an Aboriginal person to the United Nations Centre for Human Rights for the International Year. At the same time, it was appreciated that greater impact might be achieved by greater utilization of the services of Aboriginal experts to explain their own culture, and it was intended to take steps in that direction.
25. Mr. GRISSA asked how many Aboriginals there were in Australia, how they were so defined, whether the indigenous people of Tasmania were included in that definition, and what was the mortality rate among Aboriginal people.
26. Mr. CLARKE (Australia) replied that it was official policy to include both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as indigenous peoples. The 1991 population census showed that there was a population of some 265,490 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, most of them in the States of Queensland and New South Wales, but there was no breakdown of numbers of that population living in the urban, rural or remote areas of those States. The definition of such persons was essentially by self-identification. While he could not provide detailed statistics on the mortality rate, which had been relatively high in the past, there was some decrease but it still gave rise to concern.
27. Mr. JONES (Australia) pointed out that a dramatic increase had been noted in the numbers of Aboriginal persons declaring themselves as such, a trend which was taken to indicate that many persons of Aboriginal or partial Aboriginal descent who had chosen in previous censuses not to identify as such, were currently more ready to do so. The trend was most striking in Tasmania, where between 1986 and 1991 there had been a 32 per cent increase in the number of people declaring themselves to be Aboriginal.
28. Mr. SIMMA asked, in view of the efforts being undertaken to disseminate Aboriginal culture and the readiness of indigenous persons to identify themselves as such, why it had not been possible so far to have Aboriginals themselves present on the occasion of cultural events, particularly in other countries, to explain their own culture. Why had there been no mention of the Aboriginal people or their religion in the context of multiculturalism?
29. He had the impression that the emphasis was on the integration, participation and access on the part of Aboriginal persons to Western-type culture. Was that the case and, if so, was there not an element of paternalism on the part of the non-Aboriginal population? Were the efforts to disseminate Aboriginal culture being undertaken in a museum-type approach or were they oriented towards showing a living Aboriginal culture?
30. Mr. WILLIS (Australia) said that the main limitation was finding the necessary funding. Two examples of successful cultural promotion that he cited included an exhibition of Aboriginal art in Düsseldorf, opened by an Aboriginal, and an Aboriginal music group that had performed at the United Nations and other venues.
31. Mr. SIMMA, noting that in all the industrialized countries government spending was being cut across the board, asked whether genuine Aboriginal culture had also been affected by cuts or whether the Government was maintaining its support.
32. Mr. CLARKE (Australia) said that despite severe spending cuts in many areas in Australian life there had actually been substantial increases in funding for Aboriginal projects in recent years. New programmes had been started over the previous 12 months to mark the International Year for the World's Indigenous People. He drew the Committee's attention to two programmes in particular: an exchange scheme called "sister schools", whereby Aboriginal children from remote areas spent some time in a large city and the city children returned the visit. He considered it an excellent way of enhancing Aboriginal culture. Secondly, under the "Aboriginal speakers' programme" funding was provided for Aboriginals to talk to children about Aboriginal culture. The scheme was proving very successful and had earned strong approval from the Aboriginal community.
33. Mr. JONES (Australia), returning to the question of why Aboriginal religions did not feature in the list of religions derived from census returns said that while in some cases it might be covered by the categories "no religion" or "not stated", accounting for some 22 per cent of respondents, the religious affiliations of most Aboriginals would reflect those of the rest of society. Of the Aboriginals in Tasmania, not one would speak an Aboriginal language or follow the Aboriginal religion, although he was less certain how those in the outback would describe their religion. A relevant factor was that, apart from speaking English, a given group of Aboriginals from around the country would have widely differing priorities, whether they concerned jobs, money, education, health, land or welfare. He added that the High Court of Australia had recently handed down a remarkable judgement: in the Mabo case it had accepted that there should be recognition of traditional Aboriginal land rights, wherever they might arise. Rejecting the English law of terra nullius as being obsolete, it had held that Aboriginal land claims were valid. The practical consequences of the judgement - whether a large city like Sydney, for example, would have to be handed back to the Aboriginals - were unknown. He also noted that since March 1993 Aboriginal policy decisions had been in the hands of the Prime Minister.
34. Mrs. BONOAN-DANDAN, reverting to Mr. Simma's point regarding Aboriginal religion, said that given the existence of so much Aboriginal art, dances, etc., it was hard to believe that no vestiges of the Aboriginal belief systems remained. She invited the Australian delegation's comments on the matter, if necessary for inclusion in a future report.
35. Mr. JONES (Australia) said that if such vestiges still existed, they were hard to find, although it was possible that Aboriginal religions had still been practised at the turn of the century. They had probably died out with the Aboriginal languages. The matter was never raised by Aboriginals themselves.
36. Mr. CLARKE (Australia), responding to the question regarding the Government's financial support for Aboriginal languages and communities, said that it was currently providing $300 million a year for work on researching, preserving and recording Aboriginal languages, of which there were some 250. It was also providing additional funds for education in those languages: some 20 were being taught in schools. Another 70 were widely used, although to a diminishing extent owing to the Aboriginals' use of the English language. There were a further 160 languages with only a handful of elderly speakers surviving. On a recent visit to the Great Sandy Desert in Western Australia, where he had toured a number of small Aboriginal schools, he had been informed that each community contained three or four old people who came to the schools and told the children stories of Aboriginal history and culture, as well as recording their languages for posterity. Side by side with such local activity, work was being done on a more sophisticated basis by linguists. The Government was also funding a programme for broadcasting in remote Aboriginal communities, in which about 200 people were already participating. The response to the programme had been excellent.
37. In reply to a question on employment prospects for Aboriginal children, on the possibility of discrimination against Aboriginals once they were in employment and on their access to higher education, he said that there was no discrimination. In addition to assistance with employment for Australians generally, programmes to help Aboriginals had been introduced; Aboriginals had felt the impact of unemployment as much as the rest of the country, perhaps even more because they lived in remote areas. Aboriginals would prefer their young people to stay and work in their communities, so special education and training programmes were being set up to that end. With regard to access to higher education, the Government had negotiated special entry requirements for Aboriginals, particularly for those who might have left school early without proper qualifications. Universities had been given additional funds to help Aboriginal students of all ages.
38. Mr. GRISSA remarked that if young Aboriginals stayed in their communities their opportunities for finding employment and for progressing educationally would be limited. He also asked whether, despite the fact that the law did not sanction discrimination, in practice a young Aboriginal with a university degree had the same employment opportunities as a white person.
39. Mr. CLARKE (Australia) said that in his visits to Aboriginal schools he had found great enthusiasm for education among young Aboriginals and their teachers. He added that a number did leave their communities in order to train as teachers. It was Australian policy to encourage more Aboriginal teachers; there were currently about 1,000, but it was hoped that the number would increase and that the trained teachers would return to their home communities. Many Aboriginal children starting school spoke only their own languages and if the teacher was familiar with the language it helped the child to make the transition to English schooling. As far as discrimination was concerned, he said that many Aboriginals were employed in the public service; indeed there was a policy of ensuring additional places in the service to cater for Aboriginals.
40. Mr. SIMMA raised three issues. First, he said that in response to Mrs. Bonoan-Dandan's remarks concerning religion and Aboriginal art forms the Committee had been told that there was little religion left because of the disappearance of Aboriginal languages. Subsequently it had learnt of a large number of extant languages. Secondly, he had seen signs on public places in Australia discouraging visitors from wearing a form of sandal called thongs. It was suggested that because thongs were most commonly worn by Aboriginals, such signs were an example of hidden discrimination against Aboriginals. Finally he asked for further details of the success rate of Aboriginals in higher education and whether there was a high drop-out rate.
41. Mr. JONES (Australia) said that with regard to Aboriginal languages there was no discrepancy between what he and his colleagues had said. It was true that 20 languages were taught and 70 widely used, but that was only as a second language. They were languages teetering on the edge of viability. The young people who performed traditional dances and produced works of art were entirely secularized. In Tasmania Aboriginals lived in an almost completely urban environment, although that was not the case in Queensland, Western Australia or the Northern Territories.
42. Clarifying the Australian position with regard to discrimination, he said that in his experience it was possible to go for a month in Victoria without consciously seeing an Aboriginal. The question of discrimination therefore did not arise. Similarly, he had friends who were registered for voting as being Aboriginal, but he had been unaware of the fact since the subject had never been discussed. A Member of Parliament, possibly with an Aboriginal grandmother, was also registered as Aboriginal, but his ancestry was not evident in his appearance. If anything, the mood in Australia was one of reverse discrimination. It was felt that any Aboriginal who needed help should receive support. The Government was very anxious to contribute to the process, as evidenced by an excellent speech delivered by the Prime Minister to mark the International Year for the World's Indigenous People.
43. Mr. CLARKE (Australia), replying to the request for statistics on the success of Aboriginal students in higher education, said that he had none available since they had not been requested in the list of issues. However, he could assure the members of the Committee that there had been substantial increases in the numbers of Aboriginal students both commencing and successfully completing education.
44. The CHAIRPERSON invited the Australian delegation to reply to the Committee's questions on the education of non-aboriginals.
45. Mr. CLARKE (Australia), replying to a question put in connection with paragraph 19 of the report (E/1990/7/Add.13), said that no statistics were available but that he understood that Catholic schools offset reduced fees by charging higher fees for other children. Table 21 D on page 40 of the Statistical Annex showed income per student for fees and charges in Catholic, non-Catholic and other independent schools in 1991.
46. Another question about the overall financing of education in Australia had been partially answered by Mr. Jones in explaining how the Australian Government collected revenues through taxation and redistributed it to the States. It was, however, a matter for the State governments to decide how much they spent on schools. In addition to revenue from taxation, the Australian Government provided money earmarked specifically for both government and non-government schools in the States. In reply to the request for statistics on the amount available and the respective contributions of the Federal Government and the States, he said that in 1992-1993 it was estimated that $12.5 million would be spent on government and non-government schools, of which the Australian Government would contribute some $2.6 million and the State governments some $9.9 million.
47. In reply to the Committee's request for statistics on higher education, he said that for the year 1990 the Federal Government had contributed 73 per cent of the total cost of higher education and the State governments only 5 per cent. The balance of 22 per cent came from non-governmental and private sources. In connection with the latter contribution, a member of the Committee had asked what was the cost of higher education to students, given that Australia had the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS). Some 20 per cent of the average cost of higher education courses was borne by students through that scheme, and the student's contribution being some $2,300 while the average cost of the course was $11,250. Costs of course varied considerably with the course of study involved.
48. Another question asked was the extent to which students in Australia who met the academic entry requirements for higher education were successful in gaining entrance to universities. In 1992 some 53 per cent of eligible applicants had received an offer of a place. A related question was whether students who were unsuccessful in gaining a place but met the academic requirements could appeal to the courts. There was indeed provision for appeal, but he had no national statistics on the outcome since the appeals mechanism operated at State level and the information was not available to him.
49. Two questions had been asked about the degree of voluntariness of the voluntary fees for students attending government schools, since education at such schools was intended to be free. Mainstream education in government schools was indeed free, and fees were payable only for additional activities such as excursions and for sports equipment which, though desirable, were not essential. In reply to a question about government assistance for poorer students who might not be able to meet the cost of any such fees, he said that the Federal Government had equity programmes to provide additional funds for schools serving poorer communities and schools in remote areas.
50. There had been a related question about the extent of the Australian Government's influence in the matter with the State governments. The Federal Government had no constitutional power to intervene in the educational system of the States. However, the State governments had a very clear policy that payment of any fees was voluntary and furthermore the State Education Departments insisted that schools must not withhold essential educational services on the grounds of non-payment of fees.
51. In the context of Australia's policy towards the elderly, the Committee had asked whether any elderly people were participating in higher education. The answer was that in 1992, 1,884 people of 60 years and over participated in higher education in Australia.
52. In reply to the request for statistics on the rates of children completing secondary education in government schools compared with those in non-government schools and the rate at which they went on to higher education, he referred to table 13 on page 26 of the Statistical Annex which contained such statistics by gender for the years 1986 to 1990.
53. A question had been asked to whether there were any perceived or real differences in the quality of education available in government and non-government schools. Since Australia had no national testing system for children at present, there were no hard statistics available on which to make a judgement, but at times in the past there had been a perception that government schools were not performing as well as they might, and significant number of parents had transferred their children to non-government schools. As far as he was aware, however, the perception no longer existed. Both the Australian Government and the State governments had been at pains to improve the performance of government schools, which were attended by 75 per cent of students.
54. In reply to the question about the percentage of Aboriginal children attending non-government schools, he said that in 1992, 10 per cent of Aboriginal children attended such schools, 8 per cent of them in Catholic schools and 2 per cent in independent aboriginal community schools.
55. In reply to a question put by Mr. Grissa, he said that local government n Australia paid no part at all in the educational system.
56. Mrs. JIMENEZ BUTRAGUEÑO asked whether any comparative study had been made on whether Aboriginal students performed better in non-government schools or in Aboriginal community schools. Was integrated education better or worse for Aboriginal children?
57. Mr. CLARKE (Australia) replied that as far as he knew there was no comparative study on performance in government and non-government schools because of the sensitivity of teachers to national or statewide testing. The Government of Australia was, however, working towards solving that problem and hoped to have information available in the future.
58. There had been no study to indicate whether education for Aboriginal children was better in Aboriginal or mixed schools. However, he believed there would be no simple answer. Aboriginal children lived either in big cities where they attended schools in which they were in a minority or, at the other extreme, in remote areas where a significant number of the teachers were Aboriginal and indeed where primary education started in the Aboriginal language. It would probably not be practical for Aboriginal children in big cities to attend Aboriginal schools because there were insufficient concentrations of Aboriginal children there.
59. Mr. JONES (Australia) gave further details of education for older people. Such education was dispensed in some one hundred Universities of the Third Age, a system in which a wide range of courses was provided up to three times a week by retired teachers or academics, often in the evenings in high school classrooms. Some 16,000 older people were now taking part in those courses.
60. Australia also had a robust tradition of adult education, originally based on the Workers' Education Association of the United Kingdom. In the State of Victoria, the Council for Adult Education held part-time courses attended by many thousands of older students, who paid for materials and made a contribution to costs.
61. In addition there was the TAFE (Technical and Further Education) system of tertiary education offering refresher and general courses which provided personal enrichment and might even lead to a qualification.
62. The CHAIRPERSON thanked the Australian delegation for appearing before the Committee, for its report and for the answers, which showed how seriously the Australian Government took its obligations under the Covenant and demonstrated its willingness to cooperate with the Committee.