KGB claims that a school book he once read once “states that marriage is legal for Aboriginal women (girls) at 12 in the Northern Territory – TWELVE.”

As against that tenuous, half-remembered secondary source, readers who are seriously interested in the facts can go to the Commonwealth Marriage Act 1961. http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ma196185/index.html
Under s51(xxi) of the constitution, marriage is a Commonwealth power.

As I said in my earlier post, the minimum age for marriage in Australia is now 18, but a court may authorise the marriage of persons under 18 and over 16 in ‘exceptional circumstances’.

The Commowealth Marriage Act applies in all States and Territories including the NT. KGB’s half-remembered school book was wrong if it said that any Australian can lawfully marry at less than 16. See http://www.nt.gov.au/justice/graphpages/bdm/marriages/reg_office.shtml

KGB’s dissertation on carnal knowledge refers to some dissent about tough laws, but the fact is those tough laws applied then and still apply. So interviews on the 7.30 Report are irrelevant to the facts.

KGB’s claim that “child abuse is OK if the child is married” is totally false. And five minutes googling would have shown KGB he was making a goose of himself – as did BOAZ earlier.

KGB complains that BOAZ gets hammered by posters. Well, you too KGB will get hammered if you rush into print with half-remembered ‘facts’ that are clearly falsehoods.

And what an insipid complaint: “BOAZ's image of an 'old codger' having sex to his 13 year old wife is a fantasy.” It was BOAZ who constructed the fantasy – except he called it fact, which it clearly wasn’t.

KGB thinks BOAZ gets 'attacked' because he is “white, right leaning & evangelical Christian & the fact [he] raise[s] issues which some people would rather hush up".

If you’ve been following this and related threads, KGB, you’d know that too is false. The 'attacks' arise because he bases his assertions on manufactured claims with no real evidence. He is 'attacked' because of his prejudices and his incessant desire to whip up fear and hatred of people who are not like him.

Perhaps we could return to the article and not be side tracked by the rantings of the reactionary right.

The myth that whites or whatever group some people on this site indentify with are discriminated against should be addressed.

Our aboriginal brothers have a life expectancy 17 years less than the rest of Australian society. Bridge the gap.

Second, aboriginal people use government services at half the rate the rest of Australians do.

Third the tax system delvers $60 bn per year to middle class (ie non-aboriginal) people and business. $60 bn is 3 times what we spend on defence every year (or maybe with recent increases twice what we spend on defence every year.)

A small proportion of that could fund better health, education and housing for remote communities.

PS George, I thought I saw you at a little cafe called Cream this afternoon. Sorry I didn't say hello because I wasn't sure it was you.