On the radio yesterday, I heard an Aboriginal leader from Sydney making the same point as (one of the many excellent points) hilda fish made: Communities have been taking some of these actions themselves for years. Many are already "dry". The PM is apparently well aware of this, which is what makes yesterday's announcement seem like the worst kind of cynical politicking. But even in dry communities, people can still go to the towns and get alcohol. What are you going to do - outlaw drink? Make it illegal for Aboriginal people anywhere in the country to buy alcohol?

From what history tells us, knee-jerk reactions like this don't actually remove the offending material, whatever it may be; they simply drive the commodity underground, and create a black market where the vulnerable can be exploited. Crime increases as a result. And then the vulnerable community in question will be blamed for that, too.

There is no honour in treating a whole community like children. Infantilising groups of people only removes their autonomy and self-determination, and makes them further dependent on the state. It's only a genuine framework of support and education that will change things.