Aborigines Targeted In Australia

The Australian government has targeted Aborigines, and claims it's not racist. I think it definitely reeks of something!!

SYDNEY (AFP) - An Australian government plan to ban alcohol and pornography in Aboriginal communities to try to curb rampant child sexual abuse was labelled racist and knee-jerk by indigenous groups Friday.

What the hell is this supposed to mean? It's as though the government is implying that only Aboriginal people are drunks and commit child sexual abuse which is not the case. I'd be interested in knowing the abuse statistics in the entire country of Australia.

If they're going to ban alcohol and pornography for Aboriginal people, they need to ban it for everyone. This ban is saying that it's perfectly acceptable for others and we'll accept their abuse, but it's not acceptable for Aborigines. Hello, it's not acceptable for ANYONE to abuse anyone!! They need to stop using that as an excuse to impose a blatantly racist policy. It's racist!!

Prime Minister John Howard announced the unprecedented measures on Thursday following a government report detailing paedophilia and juvenile prostitution in Aboriginal communities across Australia's vast Northern Territory.

As government ministers appealed on national television for health professionals to help solve what Howard described as a "national emergency", critics said Canberra's plan had been hastily prepared and poorly thought out.

Indigenous activist Michael Mansell accused Howard of trying to stir hysteria against Aborigines ahead of national elections later this year, where the prime minister's conservative government will seek a fifth term in office.

Mansell said the government's plans singled out Aborigines.

"It would be different if his social behaviour strategy applied to everyone in Australia, but it doesn't, making his policies racist," said Mansell, the director of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre.

"This is a racist attack on the weak and an immoral abuse of power, amounting to nothing more than political vote scoring."

The government plans to take control of Aboriginal communities and bar alcohol for six months, ban hard-core pornography, ensure welfare payments are not spent on alcohol and carry out health check on indigenous children.

Mansell is right!! It would be a totally different story if this ban was for everyone. But it's not. It's for one part of the population. Everyone else is exempt!!

Howard denied the action was racist, saying the government was obliged to protect children regardless of their background.

"It has got nothing to do with race; it's got everything to do with responsibility of the parents," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

"It's just that the worst examples in Australia are to be found in many of these Aboriginal communities."

Oh come off it Howard!! The government is obligated to protect children regardless of their background. But that's not what you're doing here. You're blatantly targeting one group of people. If you seriously cared about the welfare of all children, this would apply to everyone.

I especially love how he claims that the worst examples just happen to be in the Aboriginal communities. Bullshit!! I'd be willing to bet that in some cases there are far worse situations in the non-Aboriginal communities because they know that they're not under scrutiny so they can get away with it.

Academic Judy Atkinson, who has written several reports on Aboriginal child protection issues, said she was concerned that government plans, which include using police and the military to "stabilise" communities, would backfire.

"We will have an increase of violence, we will have an increase of suicide and suicide attempts, there will be greater feelings of despair," she told the ABC.

Australia's police union also expressed reservations about its members being expected to clean up indigenous communities without clearly-defined goals and strategies.

"The ill-defined proposal to place interstate police into Northern Territory communities fails to recognise the realities facing every Australian police force," said Police Federation of Australia chief executive Mark Burgess.

Aboriginal Affairs Minister Mal Brough rejected "politically correct" criticisms of the government's actions, saying they amounted to excuses to do nothing to address the problem.

"Instead of us having shame, let's have action," he said.

I'm sorry but I have to totally disagree with this. People act like Aborigines are savage beasts or something. Ooh, they're going to be violent if you come in and try to police them. No!! I'll bet you anything that it will be the government and the police that start the violent behavior. People act like Aborigines can't act "civilized" or whatever you want to call it. Other people aren't exactly poster children for CIVILIZED BEHAVIOR.

I'm just really sick and tired of the racist attitudes of people in this world. Aborigines have a right to exist. They have a right to be treated with respect. They have a right not to be targeted by blatantly racist people!! They have a right to live in peace.

I was seriously considering Australia as one place that I'd love to live. But now I'm totally rethinking that!! I already live in one country where racism and bigotry run rampant. I don't think that I want to live in another country where it's the NORM!!