KEY POINTS:
Sometimes politicians do their best work when their tenure of office seems to be expiring. With little to lose, and possibly hoping for a long shot at survival, they discard caution and defy the canons of political correctness. That is what Australian Prime Minister John Howard has done
in his decision to take federal control of Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory.
He has acted on an appalling report on child abuse in those communities that had nothing much new to say or suggest on the subject. It found sexual abuse and juvenile prostitution to be endemic in indigenous communities, fuelled by alcohol, drugs, pornography, poor health and education and unemployment. Prompted by a disturbing ABC documentary last year, the investigation was done for the Territory's Labour Administration and neither its suggestions nor the administration's response suggested that much was likely to happen.
The report's 97 recommendations were all too familiar: public information campaigns on the risks of alcohol, pornography and gambling, an advice hotline, the appointment of a commissioner for children and giving communities more power to make their own decisions. The Territory's Chief Minister, Clare Martin, said her Government might decide what to do in six weeks.
Mr Howard, disgusted at the report and the Territory's response, announced on Thursday a series of steps that have shocked Australian social policy makers and attracted wider notice. Taking direct control from the Territory, he announced a six-month ban on sales of alcohol and pornography in the indigenous townships, enforced by the military if need be, and resolved to make welfare payments conditional on children attending school. The Federal Government will take control of Aboriginal land to improve property and public housing, paying compensation where necessary. It will use work-for-the-dole schemes to improve the physical state of the communities.
Describing the plight of the children as "akin to a national emergency", the Prime Minister said he would call a special sitting of the Federal Parliament if necessary to legislate that half of family welfare payments must be used for essentials such as food rather than alcohol and drugs, and that Parliament might also be asked to amend Aboriginal land-rights legislation and the Northern Territory's limited self-government.
Predictably, the measures were howled down in some quarters as paternalistic and even racist. Mr Howard doubtless expected the latter accusation, for on Friday he announced that this week his Cabinet will consider applying the same welfare conditions to all beneficiaries with children.
But most Australians will look favourably on the measures he proposes, as evidenced by the cautious support already offered by the Federal Opposition. Labor Party leader Kevin Rudd, favoured in polls to succeed Mr Howard at the election due this year, has undertaken to work with him on the proposals. Responsible Aboriginal opinion, too, is open to his plans. Despite land rights concerns, the National Indigenous Council has hailed the measures as bold.
Policies of so-called "empowerment' have clearly exhausted the patience of Australians. The policies have certainly had time to work and the abject condition of Aboriginal townships, not only in the Northern Territory, attests to their failure. Dispirited people need help, not self-government, and children raised in squalor need protection, not platitudes. Let us hope these drastic steps make a difference.
