Australia's Aborigines are being sent to the naughty corner:
Australia's prime minister announced plans Thursday to ban pornography and alcohol for Aborigines in northern areas and tighten control over their welfare benefits to fight child sex abuse among them.
Some Aboriginal leaders rejected the plan as paternalistic and said the measures were discriminatory and would violate the civil rights of the country's original inhabitants. But others applauded the initiative and recommended extending the welfare restrictions to Aborigines in other parts of the country.
Who knew that ending child abuse was as simple as banning porn and booze for indigenous populations? The decision comes in response to a report tying high rates of child abuse with alcohol abuse in the same populations. That report finds that alcohol abuse was a "key factor in the collapse of aboriginal culture." Some Aborigines can think of another key factor:
The plan angered some Aboriginal leaders, who said it was the kind of government behavior that has disenfranchised Aborigines and created the problems in the first place. They also complained they had not been consulted; the government had not previously indicated it was considering such action.
The ban on pornography means that all publicly funded computers will be audited periodically. And all this requires more police, so Howard wants officers shipped over from Australia’s other states.
"I'm absolutely disgusted by this patronizing government control," said Mitch, a member of a government board helping Aborigines who were taken from their parents under past assimilation laws who uses one name. "And tying drinking with welfare payments is just disgusting."