Consultant to the Australian indigenous delegation Stephen Schnierer said more than 100 countries were represented at the Seville conference and Australia was expected to play a significant role.

ASTIC chairman Geoff Clark and members of six indigenous non-government organisations are in Seville for the conference called to discuss implementing the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity Article 8J dealing with preserving traditional knowledge and land practices.

Environment Minister Robert Hill on Monday pulled out a delegation of three senior departmental officers, 24 hours before they were to depart. It has been suggested that Australia is not participating because of UN criticism of the country's race relations.

"It feels a bit strange to be over here with an indigenous contingent, yet there's no Australian delegation," Mr Schnierer said. "A lot of countries have asked us why Australia is not coming and eyebrows have been raised. You can put two and two together."

Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer insisted the 11th-hour withdrawal had nothing to with a damning report on Australian race relations.

The Government attacked as unbalanced the UN Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination report urging federal intervention against mandatory sentencing in Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

Mr Downer said the Seville conference was an expensive waste of time, especially as the delegation was going to a more useful meeting in Nairobi in May.

But Mr Clark said the real work would be done in Seville with the Nairobi meeting designed to rubber-stamp or merely tinker with the recommendations coming out of Seville.

"This is where the work's done in order to get endorsement in Nairobi," he said. "This is where the debate takes place."

Mr Clark said Australia's lack of presence had been noted.

"A number of governments have made comments privately, asking why Australia is not present," he said.

Asked whether he was attributing Australia's non-appearance to the CERD report, Mr Clark said: "I would hope not but it wouldn't be unreasonable to come to that conclusion. I would hope the government is more mature than that."

He said the Seville meeting was the opportune time for Australia to strengthen its position on the convention, especially as parliament has already passed the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act which included indigenous involvement in environment issues.

AAP

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