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CANBERRA - Alcohol and pornography will be banned in indigenous communities in Australia's Northern Territory as part of a dramatic response to widespread child abuse, which was yesterday labelled a "national emergency".
Australian Prime Minister John Howard yesterday invoked sweeping constitutional powers to thrust the Northern Territory Government aside and impose harsh new rules in a bid to end horrific abuse of Aboriginal children.
Mr Howard's move, likened to emergency measures for national disasters, followed federal dismay at the Territory's response to an inquiry, whose report was released yesterday, detailing appalling alcohol and drug-fuelled sexual assaults on children and juvenile prostitution throughout its indigenous communities.
Measures include a six-month ban on alcohol sales on Aboriginal land, a complete prohibition on x-rated pornography, and electronic search and destroy missions on publicly funded computers.
Half of Aboriginal welfare payments will be "quarantined" to ensure that not all is spent on alcohol, and payments will be conditional on children attending school.
Parents will be required to pay for school meals. All children aged under 16 will also be medically examined.
Much of the blame was sheeted home to alcohol and drug abuse and the prevalence of pornography in poverty-stricken communities afflicted by high levels of unemployment, health problems and short life expectancy.
But while indigenous groups welcomed the thrust of the measures, there were concerns that Canberra's announced intention to take control of indigenous townships could set back the cause of land rights, and that an election-year initiative could follow the failure of earlier policies.
Mr Howard made no apologies for steamrolling the Northern Territory's Labor administration with the bans yesterday.
"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.
The ban on the sale and consumption of alcohol and the possession of pornography on Aboriginal land follows a report last week which found widespread child abuse in many communities, fuelled by alcohol, lack of education and pornography.
Howard likened the problem to a "national emergency" and urged other states to bring in similar measures.
"We regard this as akin to a national emergency."
He said the federal Parliament would, if necessary, hold a special sitting during the winter break to push through legislation which will also introduce reforms to ensure welfare money is spent on essentials like food, instead of drugs and alcohol.
The commonwealth would also make welfare payments dependent on children attending school, he said.
The federal Government would further take control of Aboriginal townships through five-year leases to improve property and public housing, Mr Howard said, adding that compensation would be forthcoming if needed.
The Government will also marshal work-for-the-dole participants to clean up Aboriginal communities.
In a dramatic shift on land rights, Canberra will take control of indigenous townships in the Northern Territory through five-year leases to improve property and public housing and will axe that permit system for access to Aboriginal land.
If needed, Howard will call a special session of Parliament to amend land rights legislation and the laws under which self-government in the Northern Territory operates.
He will also ask state governments to each contribute up to 10 policemen to boost a new law and order campaign across the territory, and will ask Western Australia, New South Wales and Queensland to introduce similar measures.
Unlike the Northern Territory - whose powers are delegated from Canberra - the rights and powers of state governments are guaranteed in the constitution and the Prime Minister cannot force them to follow suit.
Howard said it was necessary for the sake of the young to intervene.
"Any semblance 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? We believe the latter is overwhelmingly more important."
Howard's clampdown follows decades of inadequate and failed policies to lift Aborigines out of extreme poverty, alcohol and drug abuse, violence, and tragically low levels of health, education, housing and other social indicators. Life expectancy is well below that of other Australians.
The attack on child abuse follows a series of studies and reports detailing rampant sexual assaults on children in indigenous communities, the most recent launched after a sickening ABC report last year.
At the weekend, the report of an inquiry into indigenous child sex abuse was handed to Territory Chief Minister Clare Martin, confirming that "rivers of grog" were destroying indigenous communities, allowing child sex abuse, juvenile prostitution and pornography to flourish.
Martin said her Government could not respond to the report's 97 recommendations for at least six weeks, bringing a stinging rebuke from Canberra and precipitating yesterday's dramatic measures.
"We are doing this because we do not think the Territory has responded to the crisis affecting children in the Territory," Howard said.
Martin denied lack of action, saying senior Territory officers were arriving in Canberra this morning for talks with federal counterparts, and that the report built on many measures already in place.
A co-author of the weekend's report, Rex Wild, QC, said Howard's actions were extreme but necessary.
Federal Labor leader Kevin Rudd asked for a briefing on Howard's moves and said he would do what he could to work with the Prime Minister.
But Democrats leader Lynn Alison has described the measures asa "jackboot approach".
Despite some Aboriginal concern that Howard's announcement could set back progress on land rights, the National Indigenous Council welcomed what it called a bold move.
"The council was appalled at yet another report revealing the endemic crisis in the Northern Territory," chairwoman Sue Gordon said. "This crisis cannot be allowed to continue. It is an emergency."
Little children are sacred: the report that exposed child sex abuse in NT
The Northern Territory inquiry said:
* Child sexual abuse in Aboriginal communities is serious, widespread and often unreported.
* Aboriginal people are not the only victims or perpetrators.
* Much of the violence and sexual abuse is the reflection of past, present and continuing social problems.
* Poor health, poor education, alcohol and drug abuse, pornography and unemployment contributing to violence and sexual abuse.
* Government programmes to help Aboriginal people need improve and be better funded.
* Poor co-ordination between Government departments and agencies is causing a breakdown in services.
Recommendations NT considering:
* Better education for Aboriginal children, including local language development.
* Education campaigns to inform people about child sexual abuse and the impact of alcohol, pornography and gambling.
* An advice hotline.
* Urgent action to reduce alcohol consumption in Aboriginal communities.
* Better family support services.
* Giving communities more power to make decisions about their future.
* The appointment of a commissioner for children and young people.
- with AAP
