"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."-John Howard


!!!???!!!

That statement goes beyond paternalism to straight out racism. It appears to me that Howard's personal racism is fueling [more] Australian institutional racism*.

Here's a news article about this topic: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20070621-0300-australia-aborigines.html "Australia plans to ban alcohol, pornography for Aborigines to fight child abuse"

I'm sure that I'm not alone in asking these questions:

Does the Australian government really think that these punitive measures will solve real conditions in those communities in the short run and in the long haul?

Why didn't [doesn't] the government engage in real consultation and real planning with the targeted population?

What currently operating programs and what proposed programming ideas do Indigenous people have to address the conditions in their own communities?

What monies have been committed to culturally competent alchohol treatment programs & culturally competent mental health treatment programs for Australian Indigenous people?

What systems will be established to ensure that individuals use their welfare payments as mandated by this new plan? What systems will be established to make sure that all aboriginal children are medically examined, and that publicly funded computers would be audited to ensure that they contained no pornography?

Who is going to get these jobs?

Where is this money coming from?

Couldn't this money be put to better use?

Who will benefit from this decision?

Power, racism and paternalism...And the beat goes on...

* Definitions for Institutional Racism