Dan Fitzpatrick provides what seems like a neat rebuttal to Solomon's article but with a closer thoughtful reading many of the points are dependent on 'ifs'. He has since revealed that he works in one of the Aboriginal communties already targeted. Clearly well informed but does he have an inherent conflict of interest?

Fitzpatrick says that the "screenings will not be unrealistic if they..address staff shortages...and chronic under-funding..". Banning alcohol will not be unrealistic he says, if it is policed sufficiently. He informs us of the training of Federal Police but omits the fact that they are doing crash-courses that would normally take months to do. He says health professionals are not "untrained in cultural issues" but neglects to say that they will not be specifically trained in indigenous culture. He must know that many Central Australian indigenous children are not bought up by their biological parents yet doesn't think it important that the professionals looking at child abuse need to be versed in these issues.

He trumpets the Commonwealth's response as "comprehensive" with "sweeping reforms" not evident in the media down South. What I would like Fitzpatrick to explain is the good behind Howard's decision to remove Community Development Employment Programs (CDEP) from this new finacial year leaving many in remote communities without work and without a framework in which to keep their towns tidy and servicable. Right now many CDEP managers have finished their contracts and are leaving Aboriginal lands taking their skills and experience with them. The timing is curious.

Perhaps Fitzpatrick is exhausted from living within the neglect and feels any action however heavy-handed is a good thing. Perhaps it is the best Australia can do but we will only know if we strive for something better.

Eric G: "Perhaps Fitzpatrick is exhausted from living within the neglect and feels any action however heavy-handed is a good thing."

Given Dan Fitzpatrick's response to me and subsequent post, I think that Eric G's analysis and inference is likely close to the mark. While Fitzpatrick's motives are undoubtedly honourable, his perspective seems to be obscured by the various "ifs" oulined above.

However, my cynicism about this stunt is only increasing as the days go by. There is nothing in this action that inspires confidence in the Howard government's sincerity to actually enhance the wellbeing of Aboriginal people, including their children.

To hear comments " Thank goodness, something is being done". Have any of you met or have a real Australian as a mate? Thought not!

I ask, when the army and police come barging into your community, what will be your comment?

You live in your "nice" environment, yet you are not aware, or avoid, the domestic violence in your own community.

Talk about "I'm alright jack". So I can comment! What hypocrisy!

Rainer, I have missed you. Hell, I thought I was still up in the tree, but now you mention it, the knuckles are getting a bit worn. Must be old age setting in. Have a good day.

David

I believe John Howard has done the right thing in acting toughly in this case. It was reported that a lot of the men in these communities spend the day drinking and it appears the mothers are also drunk or else cant defend their children from these men. Its like if a husband and wife in any society are constantly having drunken parties where the mother and father are drunk and there are drunken men constantly roaming around when there are little girls in the house the outcome is usually sexual assault of the children.

In these Aboriginal societies where there is this mass drunkenness on a tribal scale with the exception of a minority, the sexual assaults on young girls is on a massive scale and out of control. The aboriginies have had decades to address this problem in their tribes but they have failed to protect their children and so the children must be protected by the authorities of the country. This is just mass predatory rape of defenceless children.

SHAME TO THESE ABORIGINAL COMMUNITIES FOR ALLOWING THIS TO HAPPEN TO THEIR CHILDREN. Stop blaming the white people and take some responsibility.

When are the men in these tribes going to stand up and lead their people with pride and diginity instead of spending the day drinking and depending on welfare. The racism card doesn’t wash anymore. How do you explain all the other races here who get jobs and make a good life for themselves. The days of living in the stoneage like these people want to do is long gone, history has turned the page. Its their non acceptance of the reality of this that is at the root of all their problems. Blaming the white man after 200years is not going to solve any of their problems. Only they can stand up and lead themselves out of the past and into the future. Making sure their children go to school would be a good start.

Eric G:
Yes I have a few 'ifs'. I don't believe I have a conflict of interest - I am independent of government, fundamentally opposed to many of Howard's key policies, but not irrationally opposed to all that his mob does.

Re Federal Police training: they are doing the normal crash courses - nobody in the public service does crosscultural courses "that ... take months".

Re health professionals: many are people experienced in Indigenous settings, and are certainly being chosen and supervised by highly experienced persons. Anyway, many will infill for locals who have the experience - at least that is the current theory in the circles involved in planning it.

I share your concerns about CDEPs - this is more of a problem in regional centres than in remote communities, but nonetheless there are huge problems occurring with restructuring of remote CDEPs, re-allocation of contracts to large companies located thousands of km away from the participants, lack of realistic and appropriate policy guidelines, etc.

I can confirm your information that "Right now many CDEP managers have finished their contracts and are leaving Aboriginal lands taking their skills and experience with them", and I suspect that the timing is connected with the Brough/Howard earthquake, but exacerbated by a feral CEO or feral senior execs in DEWR who seem to delight in torturing the CDEP people, both managers/supervisors and particpants. If anything happening at the federal level clearly justified great anger at the moment, I would nominate the catastrophic wrecking of the already sick CDEPs.


CJ Morgan:
Hold the cynicism. I understand that Abbott has made further advances against the wilder aspects of the Brough blue-print, and that Cabinet has endorsed a more equitable approach to the welfare quarantine proposal, so that it will be restricted to recipients who have clearly neglected their kids, will involve a re-direction of 40% of the benefit to spending on the children, rather than 50% , and will roll out to non-Indigenous neglecters of children as well. He has also clearly won the struggle to mak the health checks entirely voluntary.