First up let me say I don't like John Howard (its a gun ban thing) BUT I can't believe you people who think this is a stunt. Currently in the NT court system is a case of 4-5 men and 4 kids that were drunk and stoned and they pack raped a 14 year old boy 7 times. This happened down south with a white girl and a pack of lebanese guys and there was an uproar! But this is barely even news worthy. Women are bashed, kids are molested by drunken men who spend all their money on booze and drugs so their familys don't eat or have to eat crap. The PM wants to, rightly, put a stop to it and some of you along with old Mal Fraiser and his band of half cast winging aborigional wannabe politicans try to misdirect the plan as a stunt to grab land! At least the PM doing something and not burying his head in the sand like the NT government.
Mal Fraiser said that there was no consultation with the elders.....news flash...the elders have no control and have been doing NOTHING! Any poor kid or woman in a community that gets sexually assulted is ostracised by that same community AND right under the noses of the "Elders"a
snakes4me2 said "Ahh the stolen generation starts again" Give me a break. Come up here and have a look at these communities. Kids with STD's, malnutrition, you know a few decades ago aborigional kids whose parents worked on stations went to school and at these schools they had showers, cleaned their teeth with a tooth brush that was kept there for them and had at least one good meal. This however was seen as condesending by the do gooders and now they get bugger all. They arn't even made to go to school. My kids go to a school here in Darwin where some community kids attend and every morning the red cross puts on breakfast for them. To some of them this is their only good meal and this is a community in a city!
A lot of kids (and adults) can't speak english. If they were imigrants everybody would be saying that they should speak english before they come into the country! go figure! Then we get told its a national disgrace that their health care is up to crap while drunken men beat up community nurses and drive them away. Or that there are no jobs, really??? could it be because they live in VERY remote areas with no industry, or that they have no education because they just don't go to school???
Someone mentioned petrol sniffing. There is a non sniffable fuel called Opel. Some communities WANTED this fuel and said if they got a bowser installed they would look after their kids better ie. bathing, eating better etc. This wasn't good enough for the do gooders down south and the program was nearly scraped. And this is what some communities wanted!
My wife worked in NT housing in Katherine a few years ago and she had a aborigional bloke and his 3 year old son come in applying for a house. This bloke had just moved to Katherine from a community. The wife said she's never seen a more beautiful and healthy look kid. His eyes were bright and clear not the yellow of most of the aborigional kids in Katherine. The father said that he moved into town to get away from the drinking and so his kids could get an education and so they would not be intimidated by white people. He said he will not let his kids eat crap only bush tucker, which is why his boy was so healthy. This bloke has my respect and admiration and you people who think someone trying to put a stop to the disgrace of child molesting is just buying votes have my utter contempt.
So yes go in there and ban grog/porn, its about bloody time. And don't give me the line about banning grog in white communities until you've seen the effect it has on the women and children in these aborigional communities.
Whew.....I'll hop of the soapbox now....
Howards idea is absolutely terrible. It simply cannot work, because theres a funny hting about alcohol addictions, they kill you if you go cold turkey. Your last comment, about seeing what alcohol in aboriginal communities is laughable. The situation is NO different in white communities, its just hidden better.
You have earnt my contempt with this rant, for although there are some valid points within this legislation, it is RACIST and discriminatory. Yes, there are alcohol problems within these communities, but the problems go beyond that, Yes there are problems with sexual crimes being committed against those who cannot defend themselves, BUT THESE ARE NOT THE ONLY COMMUNITIES THESE CRIMES HAPPEN WITHIN.
The whole taking half the welfare checks - good idea, but could have been spread across the entire country, IT WOULD BE A GOOD MOVE, but it would lose howard votes, so he opts for the racist approach and goes with singling out aboriginal communities.
There havebeen so many reports, that to NOT see that this legislation is a knee jerk reaction in attempt to buy votes for the upcoming election and to deflect the public's attention away from EVERY OTHER NON-POLICY he has.. This issue is the next TAMPA crisis. If you cannot see htat, then i guess you voted for him in the last few elections, - "oh yes we know he lied to us, but we still trust him".'
This head in the sand approach will never work, and nor will instigating changes which apply only to aboriginal communities.
Many of the sex crimes which are being reported inthese communities not only happen to be perpetrated by aboriginal individuals, but by white men going in and raping kids, simply as payment for probviding a few cases of beer, or a few grams of weed.
Maybe, the cessation of prohibition, and the provision of these drugs IN A SUPERVISED fashion would make a difference.
KAVA, from the plant piper mesthiculum, has been used in a few trials in the NT WITH AMAZING RESULTS in lowering the amount of violence being perpetrated.