Indigenous Australians

Mr Angry has an excellent blog entry on the Australian government’s plan to ban alcohol and porn in some Aboriginal Australian communities.

If you missed the story, the move comes on the back of a report that found alcoholism and child abuse were rampant in some of these communities in the Northern Territory.

The report blamed “rivers of grog” and the breakdown of traditional Aboriginal society for the endemic abuse.

Prime minister John Howard has called the issue a “national emergency”, but some have pointed out that it’s an election year in Australia. But Kathy Mark, writing for the Independent, points out he did not speak to the report’s authors before coming up with this crackdown. Check out Mr Angry’s take on things here.

Child abuse is a horrific crime, there is no escaping that fact. But sending troops to enforce a ban on beer and porn is not the way to go. Prohibiting something only makes its allure stronger — and prohibition by the strong arm of the government risks breeding resentment.

But as Mr Angry points out, some communities have welcomed the intervention.

There are times when Draconian measures are necessary. Do you think this is one of those times, dear reader?

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