This is a most revealing article and very well put together. There would be few if any people who would not want this issue addressed in any communities. however, to go in without the requisite good manners to talk with those immediately responsible for the day to day running of these communities is grossly arrogant and exceedingly invasive of their privacy and neglects the need that the people on the ground will have for the cooperation of these people once they get there. We have seen what can happen when Aboriginal people have their self-esteem and ability to decide their own destiny taken away. What has the Government learned from the past 200 years - anything? It is the use of the right instruments against the wrong people in the wrong way.
This has John Howard all over the national and international press - and that is the way he likes it. There is no such thing as bad publicity for this Government or this Prime Minister, as we have seen before in the lead up to an election.
I for one am disappointed with the methods being proposed, the lack of consultation with any significant other party that ought ot have been involved and with the prospect that this will be yet another failed attempt because the people involved were not brought on board with the proposed solution. It is heaping disrespect upon neglect.

Well Howard and Brough have cobbled their action together quickly on the back of an envelope. Bush Week started on 23 June and lasts til 23 July. Bush Week is the opportunity for Territorians to go bush. The Army and Police can sweep through empty townships.

On my brief visit to the Territory I was surprised to realise that the wet is so severe that construction work ceases, that is unknown in southern Australia. I realised that building tradesmen slow down in the wet, aborigines come to Darwin to escape the monotony of the bush.

After hearing about that doctors haven't been sourced and reading that examination of each child and appropriate blood tests would cost $904 and each doctor would cost $4000 per week.

Then there is the little matter of accommodation, most communities house their visiting whites in shipping containers.

Wasn't the big scandal last year in central australia the allegations of a white man abusing small children driving a car with commonwealth number plates.

I agree with the posters who said that this is a land grab, pure and simple, to allow more uranium mining, resumption of pastoral leases and really rich people to build holiday houses in pristine locations. And I wouldn't be surprised if the net effect of removal of the permit system allows alcohol to be sold in aboriginal land.

Aboriginal children would be better served by retention of CDEP or similar employment projects, provision of nutritious school lunches, provision of health care to the same standard as available in white Australia. This action is a serious erosion of Aboriginal civil liberties.

We as a nation, need to start to stop treating the Indigeneous with COTTON gloves. We also need for people to get off the POOR CONDITIONS, bandwagon.Does anyone out there seriously think builders go and build housing for these people in disrepair?. Are we mistreating these people because of a lack of health care?. Hell, i cant get hold of a doctor and i live in a city, not the outback! Personally, I pray these measures achieve more than election clout. I hope the teams come to some conclusion on how to solve the problem. However, I fear that the end result is a pack up and go home one. What these people nedd is a way to create employment for their communities. The training and assistance to make the ventures work and provide a continuance of income and employment for themselves. There is NO point in De-Alcoholising/ detoxing, these peoples then leaving them with nothing to take over the ddays for them. As for the UN., keep them out of our country please, every place they go to comes apartand gets diddled. As for your comments on atsic jocelyn, they were a failed enterprise, good ridance to it too. The Aboriginal communities have been waiting for help for years,instead of being so negative about it, try putting forth something thats constructive. Who knows, you may even come up with something that can be taken onboard by the goverment, whoever they maybe in the near future. So many educated, so many dont care. When was the last time Jocelyn spent time on an Aboriginal reserve? She speaks loud, one wonders if it for the money though!

So many opinions expressed here with little or no experience of Aboriginal people and communities. Putting the boot into blackfellas under the guise of "compassion" reaches a new low.
Congratulations all!

I have to support Howard and his plan this time. Nothing has worked in the past and state governments have also failed.

Getting the grog out of Aboriginal communities will be a godsend. I live in an area where there is a large indigenous community and many of the indigenous are embarrassed witnessing their own disgracing themselves on the grog.

It is not pleasant to witness drunks masturbating in shop doors, urinating and defecating in the main streets. These drunk parents are frequenting the pubs and leaving the kids to fend for themselves and get into mischief.

Whether Howard's plan is politically motivated or not, implementing drastic measures is now urgent if we want to see indigenous kids achieving to their full capacity.

The intellectual rhetoric on land grab etc. must take a back seat for now.

Howard's plan is good news for indigenous communities.

The article provides some important points about the problems with Howard's program. For starters, it is a hastily-built package that lacks the consideration that a response of this scale requires.

No consultation with doctors, psychologists, public service, Aborigines, etc. leads to an initiative that does not adress the overwhelming social issues. Does it deal with alcohol and drug addiction? Does it deal with the attitudes of white workers in the area? No. It is more concerned with taking away land rights.

Howard says that this plan will cost tens of millions. Is it practical to put his measures into place without spending the resources to train and employ the specialist workers required to deal with sexual abuse, Aboriginal concerns, health care, etc. Howard's plan has been estimated to have been undercosted by 3-4 billion dollars [http://theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21969739-601,00.html]. This is not an efficient solution.

The issue of indigenous self-determination is also a tricky one. Undoubtedly Howard has marked the end of 'allowing' Aborigines to maintain individual privileges. What is the new role of Aboriginals under such a plan? As the article mentioned, it is important not to treat all affected by the legislation as sexual offenders...

Does this mean we should do nothing? No. But it doesn't mean we should accept every proposal that comes to mind.