CERD/C/62/D/26/2002 page 8 4.17 On article 6, the State party notes that States possess a wide margin of discretion in fulfilling their obligation under article 6.18 It submits that its domestic law, which provides for the filing and determination of complaints of racial discrimination and the award of remedies, including monetary compensation for successful complaints, appropriately implements the obligation under article 6. The State party emphasizes that the dismissal of the petitioner’s complaint by the Federal Court is no reflection on the effectiveness of the Act’s remedies against racial discrimination, or of the remedies available when complaints are successful. 4.18 In any event, the State party submits that article 6, providing for remedies, is accessory in nature and can only be found to have been violated once a separate violation of the specific rights in the Convention has been established.19 As no other violation of the Convention has been established (under arts. 2, 4, 5 or 7), nor can there be a consequent violation of article 6. 4.19 As to the claim under article 7, the State party notes that the Act came into effect the day after the Convention entered into force for the State party. Moreover, federal, State and Territory governments have, over the years, adopted a wide array of measures to combat effectively racial prejudice and promote racial harmony, which are detailed in the State party’s periodic reports. That the petitioner was unsuccessful before the domestic courts does not detract from the immediacy or effectiveness of measures taken by the State party’s governments to combat racial prejudice and to promote racial harmony. The petitioner’s comments 5.1 By submission of 20 December 2002, the petitioner responded to the State party’s observations. He confirms that he is not asking the Committee to review decisions of the domestic courts, but rather to assess compliance with the Convention of the public display and repeated use in announcements of the offending term. It is apparent from the outcome of the domestic proceedings that the State party’s domestic law is cast in overly restrictive terms and does not give full effect to Convention obligations. Nor does the petitioner ask the Committee to review the State party’s law in abstracto; rather, he complains of a specific breach of the Convention and the State party’s failure to provide a corresponding remedy. 5.2 The petitioner considers that subjective views of individuals referred to by the State party who were not offended by the term in question is of no relevance, as the question is whether the offence was felt by the petitioner and his family. In any event, a considerable number of other persons shared the petitioner’s views on the stand, namely the Toowoomba Day Committee, the Toowoomba Multicultural Association, over 80 people participating in a “practical reconciliation” walk and 300 persons who signed a petition. Affidavits to this effect were submitted to the Federal Court, but were not admitted as evidence on technical grounds.20 The petitioner invites the Committee to take notice of these views. In any event, the petitioner requests the Committee to conclude that the offending term is objectively offensive, whatever the subjective views of various individuals. 5.3 As to the inferences to be drawn from the failure of his domestic proceedings, the petitioner argues that this failure derived from the State party’s legislation being so narrowly drawn that it is exceedingly difficult to prove discrimination, and thus it did not give full effect