National Aboriginal Emergency
A new Aboriginal Health Emergency policy has been announced by the Prime Minister, John Howard and the Indigenious Affairs Minister, Mal Brough, the policy includes medical checks for children under the age of 16, a ban on the sale of alcohol in Aboriginal communities, and school checks (ensuring all Aboriginal children are attending school on a day to day basis). These moves are included in order to stop wide spread child abuse in Aboriginal communities.
"We regard this as akin to a national emergency," Mr Howard said in Canberra. Detailing measures to be taken, he said: "In relation to alcohol the intention is to introduce widespread alcohol restrictions on Northern Territory Aboriginal land for six months. We will ban the sale, the possession, the transportation, the consumption and (introduce the) broader monitoring of takeaway sales across the Northern Territory." The federal government would legislate to intervene in the territory to enact measures to combat child abuse, Mr Howard said. He said 50 per cent of welfare payments through Centrelink to parents of children in affected areas would be quarantined to prevent all their money being spent on alcohol. "The obligation in relation to that will follow the parent wherever that parent may go so the obligation cannot be avoided simply by moving to another part of Australia. Effectively, the arrangements will be that that 50 per cent can only be used for the purchase of food and other essentials."
Mr Howard also announced the commonwealth would make welfare payments dependent on children attending school. "We're going to enforce school attendance by linking income support and family assistance payments to school attendance for all people living on Aboriginal land," he said. "We will be ensuring that meals are provided to children at school, with parents paying for the meals."
Also apart of the plan is a focus on law and order which includes more police, a ban on X rated pornography and allowing publicly owned computers to be searched for evidence of porn, scrapping the permit system, marshalling work for the dole participants to help in the clean up of Aboriginal communities, also the federal government said they would take control of Aboriginal townships through five year leases in order to improve property and public housing, and set up an Australia government desk for reporting sexual abuse. Mr Howard said that a meeting would take place next Thursday of the intergovernmental committee of the Australian Crime Commission.
At the meeting our minister will ask the ministerial council to formally refer this issue to the Australian Crime Commission to allow the crime commission to locate and identify perpetrators of sexual abuse of indigenous children in other areas of Australia.'' Mr Howard said at cabinet's next meeting Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough would present further proposals to extend the conditionalities of welfare payments to other welfare recipients. "To ensure that these payments are used for the benefit of the children,'' he said.
He said parliament would come back during the winter break, if needed, to deal with the legislation required to implement the initiative.
Mr Brough said cabinet would consider conditions on which measures requiring welfare payments to be devoted to the benefit of indigenous children would be extended to all other welfare recipients.
He said that particularly applied to the family tax benefit, but included all payments intended to assist children.
"The Australian population has a real desire to see that money only spent on the welfare of children. That has been our clear objective,'' he said. "In addition to that is of course school education. You shouldn't have a black or white boundary. Every child should be going to school and if this can help do that, then they are two areas we are current examining and we will have further to say after the cabinet.''
Mr Howard made no apology for overriding Northern Territory laws to implement his plans, saying protecting children of tender ages was more important than constitutional niceties. "We are dealing with children of the tenderest age who have been exposed to the most terrible abuse from the time of their birth, virtually,'' he said. "Any resemblance of maintaining the innocence of childhood is a myth in so many of these communities and we feel very strongly that action of this kind is needed. It is interventionist, it does push aside the role of the territory to some degree - I accept that. But what matters more, the constitutional niceties or the care and protection of young children?"
As I said before any initative that will at least do some good for the Aboriginal community should be applauded and I think that these ideas will go a long way to stopping the rampant law and order issues in Aboriginal communities eg: putting an end to child sex abuse and the banning of alcohol will go a long way to solving these issues that are apparent and to be honest something should have been done a long time ago but I do feel that what the Federal Government are looking at doing is the right thing and the best thing for the Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory so I commend the Prime Minister and Mr Brough for what has been announced today and I challenge anyone who disagrees to come up with a better proposal to clean up the alcohol and child sex abuse in these Aboriginal communities because it's the children's health and wellbeing that needs to be put first.
"We regard this as akin to a national emergency," Mr Howard said in Canberra. Detailing measures to be taken, he said: "In relation to alcohol the intention is to introduce widespread alcohol restrictions on Northern Territory Aboriginal land for six months. We will ban the sale, the possession, the transportation, the consumption and (introduce the) broader monitoring of takeaway sales across the Northern Territory." The federal government would legislate to intervene in the territory to enact measures to combat child abuse, Mr Howard said. He said 50 per cent of welfare payments through Centrelink to parents of children in affected areas would be quarantined to prevent all their money being spent on alcohol. "The obligation in relation to that will follow the parent wherever that parent may go so the obligation cannot be avoided simply by moving to another part of Australia. Effectively, the arrangements will be that that 50 per cent can only be used for the purchase of food and other essentials."
Mr Howard also announced the commonwealth would make welfare payments dependent on children attending school. "We're going to enforce school attendance by linking income support and family assistance payments to school attendance for all people living on Aboriginal land," he said. "We will be ensuring that meals are provided to children at school, with parents paying for the meals."
Also apart of the plan is a focus on law and order which includes more police, a ban on X rated pornography and allowing publicly owned computers to be searched for evidence of porn, scrapping the permit system, marshalling work for the dole participants to help in the clean up of Aboriginal communities, also the federal government said they would take control of Aboriginal townships through five year leases in order to improve property and public housing, and set up an Australia government desk for reporting sexual abuse. Mr Howard said that a meeting would take place next Thursday of the intergovernmental committee of the Australian Crime Commission.
At the meeting our minister will ask the ministerial council to formally refer this issue to the Australian Crime Commission to allow the crime commission to locate and identify perpetrators of sexual abuse of indigenous children in other areas of Australia.'' Mr Howard said at cabinet's next meeting Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough would present further proposals to extend the conditionalities of welfare payments to other welfare recipients. "To ensure that these payments are used for the benefit of the children,'' he said.
He said parliament would come back during the winter break, if needed, to deal with the legislation required to implement the initiative.
Mr Brough said cabinet would consider conditions on which measures requiring welfare payments to be devoted to the benefit of indigenous children would be extended to all other welfare recipients.
He said that particularly applied to the family tax benefit, but included all payments intended to assist children.
"The Australian population has a real desire to see that money only spent on the welfare of children. That has been our clear objective,'' he said. "In addition to that is of course school education. You shouldn't have a black or white boundary. Every child should be going to school and if this can help do that, then they are two areas we are current examining and we will have further to say after the cabinet.''
Mr Howard made no apology for overriding Northern Territory laws to implement his plans, saying protecting children of tender ages was more important than constitutional niceties. "We are dealing with children of the tenderest age who have been exposed to the most terrible abuse from the time of their birth, virtually,'' he said. "Any resemblance of maintaining the innocence of childhood is a myth in so many of these communities and we feel very strongly that action of this kind is needed. It is interventionist, it does push aside the role of the territory to some degree - I accept that. But what matters more, the constitutional niceties or the care and protection of young children?"
As I said before any initative that will at least do some good for the Aboriginal community should be applauded and I think that these ideas will go a long way to stopping the rampant law and order issues in Aboriginal communities eg: putting an end to child sex abuse and the banning of alcohol will go a long way to solving these issues that are apparent and to be honest something should have been done a long time ago but I do feel that what the Federal Government are looking at doing is the right thing and the best thing for the Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory so I commend the Prime Minister and Mr Brough for what has been announced today and I challenge anyone who disagrees to come up with a better proposal to clean up the alcohol and child sex abuse in these Aboriginal communities because it's the children's health and wellbeing that needs to be put first.
Like a snake in the grass, Mr Howard is using this opportunity and his power through the one sided Media to tarnish once again the Aborginal Communities all over national television and branding that all Aboriginal communities are like this. Mr Howard has no interest in the Wellbeing of Aboriginal people but his reputation for the next election. Well that's clever marketing Mr Howard. The Government has got a lot to answer for and will not take responsiblity.
And the last commitments of challenging a better proposal to clean up Alcohol and child abuse. What do you suspect will happen when alcohol is banned from communities and the rights of a person's freedom taken away just like what happen 20 year ago. How do you think these people are going to respond to that? And as for bringing in more Law enforcements and the Military, good on ya! Great solution! This will not help the situation by enforcing this type of Law. The Police Department are generally the fuel in these circumstances, they can get away with Deaths in Custody and of murdering a person and the Law to protect them, they will ensure they treat Aboriginal people like animals nothing has changed the Law enforcement will still bread nothing but rednecks, it's the main feeding ground.
I totally agree with what Mr Coward is saying that banning Alcohol will prevent child abuse, and agree that this is a serious matter. But be aware of the monster they created in the first place that it doesn't turn on them and bite them in the butt!
This matter will not be solved in 6 months, get real Mr Howard, you will be dealing with people's ego's, Alcohol and drugs additions and sexual urges.... This matter needs to have a long term program in place to help these people understand the fundamentals of what is happening and why it is happening.
Mr Howard needs to address this situation with caution or it will fail and this will come back on him, but will the media he will cleverly desguise and throw the blame back on the Aboriginal people, we are fimiliar with his tactics, we have seen it long enough.
He has caused this Country alot heart ache and this matter will not redeem his reputation... He will have to do better than that!