CANBERRA, Australia (AP) -- Australia's leader has announced plans to ban pornography and alcohol for Aborigines in some areas, and to tighten control over their welfare benefits to fight what he called a child sex abuse crisis among them.
Prime Minister John Howard was responding to an officially commissioned report last week saying child abuse was rampant in indigenous communities in the Northern Territory, fueled by alcohol abuse, unemployment, poverty and other factors causing a breakdown in civil society.
"This is a national emergency," Howard told Parliament Thursday. "We're dealing with a group of young Australians for whom the concept of childhood innocence has never been present."
Some Aboriginal leaders immediately slammed the plan as paternalistic, saying they had not been consulted about it and that they objected to restricting how indigenous people can spend welfare benefits.
Others applaud the plan's requirement that at least half of area Aborigines' welfare checks be spent on food and other necessities -- a measure aimed to cut spending on gambling and alcohol. They want similar conditions placed on payments in a trial in neighboring Queensland state.
Family welfare payments would also be linked to children's school attendance.
However, some warn that such a system -- applied only to Aborigines -- could breach federal discrimination laws.
4 comments:
here's a question.
Is it OK to judge "Society A" by "Society B" 's standards
That is indeed a darn good question PJ. One I cannot answer mind you but a good one regardless. I think that the more "civilized" society does have some kind of upper hand though.
Well write or wrong it seems that if you buy a gift for some one, (call it charity if you will) then it should at least be what you paid for. If the recipient feels slighted by what you gave them, then that is something entirely different... so long as they got what you paid for. I agree the law should protect those who purchase these gifts. the purchasers money should go towards what they intended. However I am in no way suggesting that the gift giver is write or wrong in what they gave these people.
In response to Peters comment, I didn't think that moral relativism had yet degenerated to the point of tacitly condoning child sexual abuse.
To the article in general. Banning goods and services to one group of people based on race is obviously anathema to a what I would consider a free and equal society. Requiring that a certain portion of welfare checks be used on necessities such as food is fine. And, no, booze and porn, while awesome, are not necessities. You don't want the restrictions, don't take the money.In my opinion, restrictions on how welfare benefits are spent should extend to all Aussies, not just the Aborigines. That being said, I am not familiar with the dynamics between the Australian gov't and the Aboriginies. I'm assuming it may be similar to the Indians and the US federal gov't.
They already identified the problems in Aborigine communities; alcohol abuse which is fueled in part by unemployment. High unemployment is related to a poor education system. High unemployment leads to impoverished communities. Removing booze will just leave you with a bunch of undereducated, unemployed and poor people who go out and steal booze, make their own, or find some other drug to take it's place.
See, America isn't the only place that can't get its shit together.
"Australia, Australia, Australia, Australia, we love you amen!"
"Rule One! No Poofters!
Rule Two, no member of the faculty is to maltreat the Abbos in any way at all -- if there's anybody watching.
Rule Three?No Poofters!!
Rule Four, now this term, I don't want to catch anybody not drinking.
Rule Five?No Poofters!
Rule Six, there is NO ... Rule Six.
Rule Seven, No Poofters!!"...Australia University Philosophy Department(Monty Python)
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