Australia to ban alcohol for Aborigines

jetsetter

Forum Addict
Joined
Dec 11, 2005
Messages
7,257
Location
Seren?sima Rep?blica de California
Car(s)
1997 BMW 528i
CANBERRA, Australia - Australia's prime minister announced plans Thursday to ban pornography and alcohol for Aborigines in northern areas and tighten control over their welfare benefits to fight child sex abuse among them.

Some Aboriginal leaders rejected the plan as paternalistic and said the measures were discriminatory and would violate the civil rights of the country's original inhabitants. But others applauded the initiative and recommended extending the welfare restrictions to Aborigines in other parts of the country.

Prime Minister John Howard was responding to a report last week that found sexual abuse of children to be rampant in indigenous communities in the Northern Territory. The report said the abuse was fueled by endemic alcohol abuse, unemployment, poverty and other factors causing a breakdown in traditional society.

"This is a national emergency," Howard told Parliament. "We're dealing with a group of young Australians for whom the concept of childhood innocence has never been present."

Howard announced the measures for the Northern Territory, an Outback region where the federal government retains powers it doesn't have over Australia's six states. He urged state leaders to apply similar tough rules in their jurisdictions.

The federal government can change laws in the territory with an act of Parliament, where Howard has a majority that ensures he can implement his policy.

Australia is home to about 400,000 Aborigines. About 60,000 live in the Northern Territory, often in isolated, impoverished communities where jobs are scarce and substance abuse is widespread. The land was returned to them over the past 30 years and accounts for about half the Northern Territory, which is about twice the size of Texas.

The plan angered some Aboriginal leaders, who said it was the kind of government behavior that has disenfranchised Aborigines and created the problems in the first place. They also complained they had not been consulted; the government had not previously indicated it was considering such action.

"I'm absolutely disgusted by this patronizing government control," said Mitch, a member of a government board helping Aborigines who were taken from their parents under past assimilation laws who uses one name. "And tying drinking with welfare payments is just disgusting."

"If they're going to do that, they're going to have to do that with every single person in Australia, not just black people," she said.

Howard said the sale, possession and transportation of alcohol would be banned for six months on the Aboriginal-owned land, after which the policy would be reviewed. The child abuse report found drinking was a key factor in the collapse of Aboriginal culture, contributing to neglect of children and creating opportunities for pedophiles.

Hardcore pornography also would be banned, and publicly funded computers would be audited to ensure that they had not downloaded such images. The report said pornography was rife in Aboriginal communities and that children often were exposed to it.

Under Howard's plan, new restrictions would be placed on welfare payments for Aborigines living on the land to prevent the money from being spent on alcohol and gambling. Parents would be required to spend at least half their welfare on essentials such as food, and payments also would be linked to a child's school attendance.

Howard also called on state governments to send police to the Northern Territory to address a shortage on Aboriginal land there and offered to pay their expenses.

The child abuse report was commissioned by the Northern Territory government and is widely regarded as credible although it attracted some critics. It was unable to quantify the extent of the sexual abuse problem, since anecdotal evidence suggested much of it went unreported.

Conducted by an indigenous health worker and a government lawyer, it found children had been sexually abused in all 45 remote communities visited. The abusers were both Aborigines and non-Aborigines operating in or near their communities.

The report made 97 recommendations, including boosting procedures for reporting and monitoring offenders, and addressing widespread poverty and alcoholism.

Australia's original inhabitants suffer far higher rates of poverty and substance abuse than the rest of the country's 21 million people, and their life expectancy is 17 years shorter.

For years, white men were banned from marrying Aboriginal woman, and mixed-race children were taken from their Aboriginal mothers to be assimilated into mainstream society.

Though many found employment in the cattle and sheep industries, they were paid less than whites, sometimes working just for rations. Unable to achieve economic independence, many have become welfare dependent.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070621/ap_on_re_au_an/australia_aborigines

As my fellow Americans should know the "red man" can't hold his "fire water".:rolleyes:

I mean really. The actions of the Australian government remind me of statements like the one above. The alcohol is not the problem. It is much deeper than that.
 
Much Much deeper. its a shame...
 
The questions is will this solve the problem. And I think the answer is 'no'.....

I'm curious to see some stats on how rampant this child abuse is. And, if the rates were similar in non-aborginal areas...would the same policy be implemented.

To me this sounds like a law enforcement issue. Child abuse is criminal, so go after the criminals. Enforce the laws already in the books.
 
If you ask me, they should ban petrol or glue to stop them from sniffing it.
 
you know another interesting point...
BP have created a petrol called Opal Unleaded.

"Petroleum giant BP has made a major breakthrough in the fight against petrol sniffing in remote Aboriginal communities."
This news is from 2004 but theyre reusing the same techniques over and over again.

I mean take away alcohol and they sniff petrol.. take away petrol and they sniff glue... next what??
 
^ This is the same as the British Government's nanny style to fix "problems". I am sad to read about the issues affecting the aborigines, I have no answer myself but this strikes me as coming from the 'not going to work' pile.
 
The alcohol is not the problem. It is much deeper than that.

Very true - not I really have any ideas how to start fixing the problem, but it's very deeply rooted, and has built up over a long time. These bans will achieve nothing.
 
Definately an election coming up. They could have done this 5 years ago!!
 
It may not solve the problem, but I think it will help.
 
okay, my Australian friends. I'm packing up and moving down there. I need a fast car, or maybe an ute. I'm gonna start running moonshine to the Aborigines. Who wants in?
 
Assuming the issues are similar to Canada's, why can't "Aboriginals" just be treated as normal people....kind of like everyone else? Y'know, get a job, pay for a place to live, food, etc.?
 
Assuming the issues are similar to Canada's, why can't "Aboriginals" just be treated as normal people....kind of like everyone else? Y'know, get a job, pay for a place to live, food, etc.?

they been watered down by the goverment giving em everything, so all they know how to do is bitch, sniff and put out their hands. this is always why aboriginals are resented in australia since they live off us.
 
okay, my Australian friends. I'm packing up and moving down there. I need a fast car, or maybe an ute. I'm gonna start running moonshine to the Aborigines. Who wants in?

A friend of mine has a R33 Skyline that is completely stock if you want in.
 
they been watered down by the goverment giving em everything, so all they know how to do is bitch, sniff and put out their hands. this is always why aboriginals are resented in australia since they live off us.
Hmm...sounds about the same as in Canada. Sorry to hear that :(
 
Possibly they have been given the wrong sort of help in the past - I don't know though.

I wonder if politicians are the right people to work out decent policies some times, lots of well intentioned ideas just seem to go to hell in a handcart when the law finally passes.
 
they been watered down by the goverment giving em everything, so all they know how to do is bitch, sniff and put out their hands. this is always why aboriginals are resented in australia since they live off us.

Reminds me of a joke;

Why do they bury aboriginals so shallow in the sand?

So they can still get their hand out.
 
This is a step in the right direction, sure its unfair, but I'm sure this will do good. At least John Howard has to balls to do something about it, to me it shows he really cares about solving this problem. His heart is in the right place.

Its funny that he does this so close to an election though, it's a pretty controversial move and is likely to make him unpopular.
 
Top