Australia PM to Ban Alcohol for Aborigines

Originally posted by ThePieMaN
How can they make one set of rules for one set of people and have it not to be considred racist ? Thats ridiculous and its demeaning to people who arent like the problemed ones.

As a lifelong liberal democrat, I applaud your sentiments.

As a practical man of affairs, I have to ask what other solution there is to this problem. Please don't say 'education'; you can't educate an eleven-year-old drunk.

Giving them more legislative powers over their own lands would be a good start. If the Aborigines wish to ban Alcohol on their own lands then that is their choice. If they want to make it legal for an 11 year old to get drunk on their lands then that is their choice as well.

This whole issue is about freedom and choice versus control and oppression.

[edit on 22-6-2007 by sardion2000]

Abuse of alcohol and drugs are a problem in every society, but to target one group and make it illegal, is racism. If it is so important why not make it illegal all over the country? I am sure there are plenty in other groups who could also benefit from sobering up.

BTW when did the government stop taking children of mixed race away from aborigine mothers? I read that it was in the sixties, but I also read that it was as late as the 70's too, so which one is correct? Are these the now grownup children who were stripped of their families and put in some sort of government run facilities, now drinking themselves to death?

Also, if you read the article, it stated that all of these children in the area being targeted for the prohibition are going to be having medical exams to be checked apparently for sexual abuse. So basically you have a group that have no rights over themselves or their children and one wonders why they feel powerless and drink themselves to death, what a shocker! I must say I am a little shocked at those here who feel this is an acceptable way to treat people.

[edit on 22-6-2007 by goose]

Originally posted by ThePieMaN
How can they make one set of rules for one set of people and have it not to be considred racist ? Thats ridiculous and its demeaning to people who arent like the problemed ones.

They already have dry communities down here that are self imposed by the Aborigines. They also already have places where it is illegal to sell them petrol for all the sniffing - or they have alternatives that dont get you a buzz. There are teenage girls pushing prams, with tin cans tied aroun their necks so they can sniff as they walk.

There are people sexually abusing children as young as 3 months old, due to being chronic alcoholics. There are teenagers raped while their parents are passed out. There are children under the age of 12 with sexually transmitted diseases. There are cases of men over 40 plying children with weed or petrol for sex. There are people who do nothing but spend their entire welfare check on grog.

There are families that are so confined to the welfare system due to being chronic alcoholics that they neglect their children and they roam the streets at night sniffing petrol and continuing the cycle.

This has been advocated by the locals for years, but the reluctance of the govt. to act has led to a perpetual cycle of self destruction and poverty.

Their housing is decrepit, not from lack of funding, but thru sheer neglect as the people who live there rip up the floor boards to light fires.

The elders in these communities have asked for years for drastic measures to be done so that they can see their people get up from the ground and gain self respect.

This is not the Aborigine living in the suburbs of Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Darwin, etc.. it is remote Aboriginal communities.

I love how the people who have no clue, think it's racist and discrimination - yet are likely the very same people who see the poverty and pathetic lifestyles these same communities are in due to the addiction to alcohol, and say how racist and discriminatory we ae for NOT doing anything.

Damned if we throw billions of dollars at entities like ATSIC who siphon the money into their own pockets to the neglect of their own people, and damned if we try a proactive approach.



And the PM has already stated that they are looking into widening this policy to involve ANY family that has become so entrenched in the cycle of addiction and welfare that the same restriction will be imposed - Non colour specific.

I doubt anyone here who does not live in Australia fully understand what has been done in the past, and what needs to be done in order to break this cycle.

Originally posted by biggie smalls

Originally posted by dingleberry77
Is it a human rights issue if we leave these poor people to drink themsleves to death...literally. That is more of a human rights issue.

If people were hooked and dying on heroin, is it right to take it off them. It's the same issue in the Northern Territory. It's their heroin.

The problem with prohibition is that it doesn't deal with the issue.

It merely makes it illegal to consume or produce alcohol.

So instead of them getting drunk legally now, they will be going to jail because of this law.

Thats is a very ignorant view of how the Aboriginal communities currently exist. Please, follow your own advice.

If you think their lives are horrible now, just wait.

You will be paying through your taxes to send hundreds if not thousands of innocent aboriginals (who happen to be native to the continent) to rot in jail...

That sounds like a real humanitarian relief to me

.

Use your brains please.

Hundreds if not Thousands ? Where are you getting these figures ? What is your understanding of Remote Aboriginal Communities ? Are we sending hundreds if not thousands of Aborigines to jail in communities that are dry by choice ? Because I can tell you that they still have people there who want a drink. No, we are not.

But you can bet your bottom dollar that in the communities that do not have alcohol restrictions, the amount of tax payer funding spent on the treatment and welfare of looking after those as a result of chronic alcohol abuse, is very high.

You dont seem to understand the situation down here, and are basing your opinion on your own personal bais.

A better way to spend your tax dollars would be to educate them so they can get jobs and not be so depressed.

Or come up with something better.

I can almost guarantee 100% that prohibition won't work.

It hasn't worked anywhere else in the world.

en.wikipedia.org...

You are only going to cause a rift between the nonaboriginals and the aboriginals.

This will greatly increase crime.

Next thing you know, there will be moonshine smuggling rings.

The mafia would probably not exist in the US if it weren't for prohibition.

You will probably see the Japanese or Chinese mafia step in.

Get ready for some real crime

[edit on 22-6-2007 by biggie smalls]

*sigh* Im not even going to bother....

[edit on 22/6/2007 by badw0lf]

Originally posted by goose
Abuse of alcohol and drugs are a problem in every society, but to target one group and make it illegal, is racism. If it is so important why not make it illegal all over the country?

Have you even attempted to read anything in this thread ?

It is not the entire Aboriginal people. For crying out loud - it is REMOTE communities in the Northern Territory.

Not Perth, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra, Darwin, Karratha, Bunbury, Mandurrah, or ANY where else in the country.

As I say, damned if we do and damned if we dont.

Originally posted by badw0lf

Originally posted by goose
Abuse of alcohol and drugs are a problem in every society, but to target one group and make it illegal, is racism. If it is so important why not make it illegal all over the country?

Have you even attempted to read anything in this thread ?

It is not the entire Aboriginal people. For crying out loud - it is REMOTE communities in the Northern Territory.

Not Perth, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra, Darwin, Karratha, Bunbury, Mandurrah, or ANY where else in the country.

As I say, damned if we do and damned if we dont.

Being the op I assure you I read it, including the article I posted so I am aware that it is not every aborigine, and this law would only affect the ones living within the boundaries of the said territory.

But if alcoholism is the cause of the problem then I would assume anyone within the country who overdoes it should be required to stop drinking. How many other groups are affected by alcoholism in your country? Don't they deserve the same care given to the aborigine? Why is ok to ban it for one group and not the other?

And if they should decide to ban it for the other alcoholics and drug addicts, are they going to force their children to take medical exams to see if they have been sexually abused? I see what you are saying, you see all of this, as a good thing, so why not apply some of the same laws to everyone, don't you too deserve to be treated so kindly?

There are other members of your society who would benefit from not drinking alcohol as well, so why not ban it for everyone in the country? And do you know any answers to my questions about the previous abuse of the aborigines?

[edit on 22-6-2007 by goose]

Having spent 15 years as an alcohol/drug abuse counselor, I can tell you without hesitation that prohibition - no matter its form - simply doesn't work. THe alcoholic/addict will always find alcohol even if its illegal. The problem with this type of law is that then Aborigines will make moonshine and may die from that. It will actually make the problem worse. And that is exactly what happened in America, lots of people died during the Prohibtion from drinking shoe polish, rubbing alcohol, etc.

Just simply educating them won't work either. We've had decades of alcohol abuse education and it still doesn't work.

What is needed is treatment for the alcoholics. You will see, the problem will only worsen, many more will die than before.

Originally posted by dingleberry77
This is totally differenty to Prohibition. These people are sick and dying.

And it's their choice. This is another example of treating natives like children.

I know! To save money and time we'll tar a whole race with the same brush! It worked in Iraq, they're all terrorists! Please people, remote communities deserve the same rights as major towns, focus on the trouble makers, leave the people trying to have a go out of it. Today in Aus the "Gold Coast Bulletin" had printed on the front page "HOWARD DECLARES MARTIAL LAW ON NORTHERN TERRITORY" or something very similar. Some thing is up.

I think this should be happening worldwide. take away the alcohol and give them grass.

Not that i'm a smoker, but the world would be a nicer place and safer.

Yeah, lets make'em real paranoid, see if things improve. They allready smoke weed. They are people too. They have encountered the same sort of stuff you have but they are prejudiced against when they look for work. Life is a lot harder when people have pre-conceived ideas about you. Solution? Start acknowledging these people and their contribution as important to the maintenance and survival of the human race, after all they were the ultimate park rangers, they kept this country (Aus) pristine for the next generations to enjoy. Just like the forest dwellers in South America, these guys are the caretakers of the land. They need very high paying jobs working for the government preserving what we have left.

Again Anglo but have a brain......

This is an election year stunt. Plain and simple. The govenrment has been aware of these issues all along, and done nothing. But suddenly, today, it's a national emergency?
The same government, six months ago suggested retirees should go out and volunteer in these communities. Send retirees to fix a national emergency?

CLARE MARTIN, NORTHERN TERRITORY CHIEF MINISTER:
. .
And he did say in the Federal Parliament that we're taking some actions in the Northern Territory because we can constitutionally. So we accept that, we accept it. It's a fact of life for the Territory. We had our nuclear waste legislation overridden just last year. It's a fact of life for the Northern Territory. I've got to be bigger than that. And what I've got to say is this is an issue I want to tackle. We're committed to tackling and I'll work with the Federal Government in any way that is practical and effective.

www.abc.net.au...

The Northern Territory is going to cop it on the chin. Because it has to. It's not actually a "state", constitutionally, so they have to do what the federal government says, on certain things. The P.M. can't pull the same stunt on the other states, so he gets a plan light on spending and big on media splash. The fact that you would look the right twat to take an opposing stance on the subject, eases it in as well.

After all, something does have to be done about this, it's just that something has had to be done about this for decades. Petrol sniffing has been a problem for decades, yet OPEL, the non intoxicant petrol has only recently been started to be implemented. The problems of alcoholism etc. are related to Aboriginal MISERY. Indigenous Australians conditions are described as miserable, their job, health, education status is described as miserable. People there have got it pretty miserable, maybe adressing those issues may help resolve some of the symptoms, such as alcoholism, sexual abuse, drugs, petrol sniffing, poor housing etc.

I just hope the young kids can get a chance, the adults can get clean and healthy and the communities cna actually be communities and not fourth world hell holes.

Meanwhile, twenty miles down the road, Pine Gap hums alonng nicely.

To the Yanks claiming the aboriginies are going to be making stills and forming mafias:

This is all taking place in the middle of the desert. The largest communities have about 1500 people. The idea of these people having the ability and materials to put together any means of replacing alcohol is laughable.

urgh! where do I start???

I have seen first hand the devastation caused from alcohol/petrol sniffing/ substance abuse within Indigenous Communities. Oh this just peees me right off, the Govt approach becomes paternalistic yet again

Now, I am absolutely furious. Lets look at the history of State and Federal Government initiatives and research/responsive approaches. It is absolute bollocks.

The State Govt have had reports from extensive research tabled before them for over 30 years (that I have held in my hands and read - there is a long history of red tape) and yet nothing has been done. I could pull some research out for you that clearly indicates the problems the Govt has been informed of and yet a newspaper article showing Indigenous men in the Pitjinjarra Lands sniffing petrol resulted in a swift State legislative action. if only it were that easy!!!!... can a newspaper investigation really implement legislative intervention? Maybe I should tell all the State public hospitals and schools to just ring the Advertiser Newspaper.... the Government will finally do something about their problems.

Please also note that in the last decade Western Mining have bought considerable land surrounding the AP lands. What mineral wealth sits in those lands? eh??? Fact is, those companies cannot get in and take what they want, so remove/destablize the AP lands council and move in.
The Indigenous Communities with legally recongnised rights to areas are sitting on considerable mineral wealth.

Ok, so we see a history of neglect and inadequate responses by State and Federal Govt and we also see a clear pecuniary interests to benefit from destablilising the councils.

Please consider Mr Geoff Clarke en.wikipedia.org... was ousted from ATSIC because of an alleged criminal charge. He was removed from his position and then reinstated after the hearing when he was found not guilty and guess what? He was reinstated to his position at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission and the Commission had been disbanded the year before. Great strategy. Takes a lot of hyenas to pull a lion down!

The Fed Govt have taken one community in the Eastern States and adopted paternalistic intervention collectively....

What this does is give the mining giants power. That is the truth and considering the decades of research outlining substance abuse that has been tabled before Parliament and now they finally decide to do something.

This just gives the State and Federal Governments an opportunity to exploit collectively the Indigenous Communities.

*swear




[edit on 22-6-2007 by NJE777]

oh and another thing...

The term 'aboriginies' is incorrect. It is an empirical term used by the British Sovereign to refer to the native savages [sic] The correct label is Indigenous Peoples' of Australia.

The Australian Govt can't even use the Internationally accepted definition, hopefully that in itself illustrates how backward our current Prime Minister is.

I can well understand BadWolf's frustration here. It's clear that many posts are written with the best of intentions, but sadly, lacking in first-hand experience of a situation which is being sensationalised and typically --- labelled as 'racist'.

Medical staff at Mt.Isa hospital, for example, are familiar with situations in which Aborigines are brought in suffering from alcohol poisoning. They are also found to be suffering advanced mental retardation as consequence of their habit of 'sniffing' petrol. They are severely malnourished. They neither know nor care where their children are. They first require to be deloused. They are then bathed for considerable time, during which their skin appears to be peeling off. It is not skin however: it is clothing --- layer upon layer -- which they have worn for so long, that it has adhered to their skin. A person giving all the appearance of being of advanced age, is found to be only in their 30s. They frequently cannot remember exactly how many children they have borne.

Most people have no experience with people who don't know or even care how many children they have. It's an alien concept to Westerners. Yet it's common in many Aborigines. Their culture is far removed from ours. Until only a few decades ago (until vested interests rewrote history and usurped the once reputable science of anthropology) it was taught in Australia's most pretigious universities that at 250,000 years behind Westerners in evolutionary terms, the Australian Aborigines are the most primitive people on the planet. Not racist. Fact.

In order to discuss the current situation re: Aborigines, it's important to recognise that they are very different to us. They do not deal in hard-edged 'reality': they inhabit a different world altogether, literally a dream-state most of the time. They can remain unmovingly fascinated with the play of light on a wall. They hear rythms in the wind, or a piece of machinery. They don't tune it out as we do -- they become absorbed in and by it. They are often endlessly fascinated with small, seemingly insignificant objects. Whereas we may admire scenery: they enter it. They see things we don't. They attribute importance to what may seem negligble to us. This was their world, prior to white colonisation.

The reason Aborigines drink is in order to enter and maintain the dream-state they prefer. When alcohol is not available, they will use anything to hand: petrol, methylated spirits, mineral turpentine, commercial cleaners, paints, aerosol products --- anything. For them, there is no shame in this. Drifting semi-conscious is their preferred state, one in which they lived for thousands of years.

People often liken this to heightened spirituality. To some extent this may be true. However, it's also a fact that Aborigines practised infanticide throughout much of their history(until white settlement 200 years ago). If a child was born at an inconvenient time (during walk-about for example) it would simply be tossed into a shallow pit or buried in sand and the tribe would continue on its way. It was the practice until very recently (and some claim it continues in some regions) for very young girls to be given to elderly males as 'wives'. Similarly, young boys were forced to become 'husbands' to elderly females. This was reversed as those children grew to maturity and middle and old age, at which point *they* took young children as husbands and wives. Until whilte settlement, Aborigines did not connect sex with procreation: they did not know that sex caused babies. Children were just born; were just there. Children were simply a part of tribal life; a resource.

In order to achieve their desired 'dream state', Aborigines used to have to work for it: playing throbbing didgeredoos, dancing and stamping, staring fixedly at objects, etc. When they discovered that alcohol could produce the desired effect swiftly and at will, they became besotted with the stuff to the exclusion of all else.

I've lived in close contact with Aborigines and have seen the importance alcohol plays in their lives. It's similar to drug-addiction. Alcohol becomes the focus of their lives: obtaining it, drowning in its effects and then rousing slightly in order to obtain more. Nothing else matters except alcoholic oblivion.

We had to rescue several Aborigine children from unimaginable squalor. All had a different father and their mother spent her days in an alcoholic stupor in an abandoned, dirt-floor shack. She arose only in order to stagger to the hotel, where she unprotestingly slept with as many men were interested (and many weren't) as long as someone gave her some alcohol. She slept where she fell, in the scrub behind the hotel. She no sooner received her government cheque (for maintenance of herself and her children) than she spent it on alcohol. All the children had scabies and were as malnourished as any African child in tv commercials, with protruding bellies, huge eyes, matted hair, covered in filth. The children lived on what they could beg or steal. Their mother provided neither food nor nurture. She didn't know how many children she'd actually borne in addition to those living with her in the shack.

The mother was virtually toothless. Her hair was matted. She hadn't bathed for years. She wore the same dress until it fell apart. Even when provided food and clothing by townspeople, she made no effort. She constantly begged for alcohol. Her memory was gone. She dribbled and muttered and made unintelligible sounds. She was oblivious to her children and everything else. Alcohol was all she cared about and she was rarely, if ever, sober.

Every effort was made to rehabilitate her and to provide for her children. She wasn't interested in anything. She didn't know where her children were and she didn't care. The poor things were there in the shack as she had sex with several men a night. She was unconscious in any case. A couple of her young daughters (aged 9 and 11) had veneral disease. Obviously some of the men had used the girls for sex. Her eldest son (aged 14) laid in wait and raped a ten year old girl who was walking home from school. The mother was permanently too far gone to get involved in the subsequent investigation and removal of her son.

All of this, which is just one example of very common circumstances, is depravity. Yet the entire time, this creature was receiving ample funds from a well-intentioned government, for the provision of herself and her children. She had simply walked out of the three bedroom home provided her by the government, in order she could 'live' closer to a source of alcohol: the hotel.

If the government placed the children in foster homes and admitted the mother to hospital or an institution, they would be accused of 'paternalism' and 'child stealing'. If they continued to provide housing and money to the mother, they would be accused of 'not caring' and of 'making it too easy' for the mother to continue her slide into permanent oblivion.

The Australian government has tried one hoped-for 'solution' after another. They have built entire townships, complete with schools, play-grounds, hospitals, police force, training centres, etc., only for the Aborigine inhabitants to use furniture, floor-boards, etc. to make fires, rather than go 30 metres to the bush to collect fire-wood. Those familiar with it know the situation well, but for those who don't, there are numerous tv documentaries showing filthy smashed excreta-filled toilets leaking over the remains of vandalised bathrooms and houses. Kitchens with huge blackened holes in the centre of the floor where Aboriginal occupants had simply made a fire in the middle of the room and thrown a wombat on it whole. Tax dollars up in smoke. Followed by Aborigine claims of 'poor living conditions', illness and government neglect.

Originally posted by Dock6
Medical staff at Mt.Isa hospital for example, are familiar with situations in which Aborigines are brought in suffering from alcohol poisoning. They are also found to be suffering advanced mental retardation as consequence of their habit of 'sniffing' petrol. They are severely malnourished. They neither know nor care where their children are. They first require to be deloused. They are then bathed for considerable time, during which their skin appears to be peeling off. It is not skin however: it is clothing --- layer upon layer -- which they have worn for so long, that it has adhered to their skin. A person giving all the appearance of being of advanced age, is found to be only in their 30s. They frequently cannot remember exactly how many children they have borne.

Mt Isa = Endemic, ok? Localised to the community, it is not widespread.

Their culture is far removed from ours. Until only a few decades ago (until vested interests rewrote history and usurped the once reputable science of anthropology) it was taught in Australia's most pretigious universities that at 250,000 years behind Westerners in evolutionary terms, the Australian Aborigines are the most primitive people on the planet. Not racist. Fact.

No, sorry that is incorrect. What academia are you influenced by? The Indigenous Groups I know, work with and have met are not primitive. Their tradition/ customary laws are more advanced than our own society. Insomuch so that the white idealists turn more and more to Indigenous customs for land regeneration. Please get your head out of Darwinist concepts and read everyone's academic opinion

In order to discuss the current situation re: Aborigines, it's important to recognise that they are very different to us. They do not deal in hard-edged 'reality': they inhabit a different world altogether, literally a dream-state most of the time. They can remain unmovingly fascinated with the play of light on a wall. They hear rythms in the wind, or a piece of machinery. They don't tune it out as we do -- they become absorbed in and by it. They are often endlessly fascinated with small, seemingly insignificant objects. Whereas we may admire scenery: they enter it. They see things we don't. They attribute importance to what may seem negligble to us. This was their world, prior to white colonisation.

Again NO. Get your head out of your rectum, put the 18th Century Anthropological book down and show some respect. Get off your superior white ideological assssssss.

The reason Aborigines drink is in order to enter and maintain the dream-state they prefer. When alcohol is not available, they will use anything to hand: petrol, methylated spirits, mineral turpentine, commercial cleaners, paints, aerosol products --- anything. For them, there is no shame in this. Drifting semi-conscious is their preferred state, one in which they lived for thousands of years.

wtf are you on????? this is disinfo Indigenous Australians do not use alcohol to connect to the spirit dreaming state... grrrr. Alcohol and dispossession go hand in hand. I will also throw in the stolen generations, but you would have no flipping idea about that would you? And yet your mouthing off, giving explanations as fact. You are completely incorrect.

However, it's also a fact that Aborigines practised infanticide throughout much of their history(until white settlement 200 years ago).

OMG my mouth is so wide open, I can't believe the bollocks you are spinning...

In order to achieve their desired 'dream state', Aborigines used to have to work for it: playing throbbing didgeredoos, dancing and stamping, staring fixedly at objects, etc. When they discovered that alcohol could produce the desired effect swiftly and at will, they became besotted with the stuff to the exclusion of all else.

Oh farout....what a load of absolute moronic blar... please, stop perpetuating BS

I've lived in close contact with Aborigines and have seen the importance alcohol plays in their lives. It's similar to drug-addiction. Alcohol becomes the focus of their lives: obtaining it, drowning in its effects and then rousing slightly in order to obtain more. Nothing else matters except alcoholic oblivion.

close contact? could you elaborate? Alcoholism is escapism. Oh just for humour sake, maybe you can offer me your opinion on deaths in custody??? Alcoholism is the legacy of western intervention. Fact

We had to rescue several Aborigine children from unimaginable squalor...

What did you go to the river in Alice Springs? Or maybe you stopped for five minutes in Ceduna and formed an opinion?

All of this, which is just one example of very common circumstances, is depravity. Yet the entire time, this creature was receiving ample funds from a well-intentioned government, for the provision of herself and her children. She had simply walked out of the three bedroom home provided her by the government, in order she could 'live' closer to a source of alcohol: the hotel.

creature??? your referring to another human being as a creature???

the well intentioned govt??? ample funds???? the welfare dependency doesn't cut it, it amounts to nothing more that a govt bandaid for a soveriegnty never ceded

If the government placed the children in foster homes and admitted the mother to hospital or an institution, they would be accused of 'paternalism' and 'child stealing'. If they continued to provide housing and money to the mother, they would be accused of 'not caring' and of 'making it too easy' for the mother to continue her slide into permanent oblivion.

And here you go, justifying the stolen generations... now your perpetuating the cycle.

The Australian government has tried one hoped-for 'solution' after another. They have built entire townships, complete with schools, play-grounds, hospitals, police force, training centres, etc.,

What would you know about the history of dispossession?

What would you know about various phases of Government?
The history of genocide? International threshold only needs one out of five to determine genocide, Australia has all five

Tax dollars up in smoke. Followed by Aborigine claims of 'poor living conditions', illness and government neglect.

Oh how about you start paying tax to the original inhabitants of Australia?
Hmmm...?






[edit on 22-6-2007 by NJE777]

[edit on 22-6-2007 by NJE777]

In order to discuss the current situation re: Aborigines, it's important to recognise that they are very different to us. They do not deal in hard-edged 'reality': they inhabit a different world altogether, literally a dream-state most of the time. They can remain unmovingly fascinated with the play of light on a wall. They hear rythms in the wind, or a piece of machinery. They don't tune it out as we do -- they become absorbed in and by it. They are often endlessly fascinated with small, seemingly insignificant objects. Whereas we may admire scenery: they enter it. They see things we don't. They attribute importance to what may seem negligble to us.

Whats wrong with living that way?

I'm sorry, but there is so much wrong with this thread its not even funny.

I love how the people who have no clue, think it's racist and discrimination - yet are likely the very same people who see the poverty and pathetic lifestyles these same communities are in due to the addiction to alcohol, and say how racist and discriminatory we ae for NOT doing anything.

Yeah we all have no clue. You're so much more informed than all of us.

I don't see their lives related to alcohol. It is a much deeper endemic than that. They feel their lives are worthless and the western world aka the rest of the country has no idea what they are going through.

The British came in, displaced their culture, and expected them to live like "nice" white people. They are different than us. They have different culture that has existed far longer than any of our own. None of us fully understand where they are coming from, but at least I am trying to help.

Banning alcohol and drugs will not help them in the least. What these people need is treatment and a better option at life. Stop robbing their resources and let them decide how they should be ruled. Maybe then they'd feel a little better.

Remember, they were in Australia first. For thousands of years in fact before any white man set foot on the continent. They were there.

I didn't say anything about being racist or discriminatory although a lot of others have. This is something much deeper. Your politicians seem to only make a deal of it now, during an election year, similar to what our corrupt politcrats do.

They don't care about the natives, they are only trying to get reelected.

So if this was brought up a year earlier or later it would be brushed over like it was "no big problem."

This is something that goes to the root of their culture. I don't pretend to understand it fully and I don't think I ever will. I am not them. I can try though and trying includes action.

Action to help them, not further alienate them from the rest of the country. Prohibiting something will only make their lives tougher.

In response to someone who said they can't get the moonshining materials out there is ludicrous. You do not need a whole lot of resources to find these sort of things and some of it can be hand built with scrap metal. It sounds like they have a lot of scraps lieng around and one knowledgable chemist could be called in to start their business.

All it takes is one person in it for the money. Then their whole society is back in the #ter.

Brewing beer is also a lot easier and I'm sure cost-effective. You can do this in mud-brick structures.

Please people, I am not asking for much but give these guys a chance. Prohibition is not the way to help them. Get out there and volunteer if you care so much about them and wish a change. Give them opportunities to do something instead of sit around and get loaded all the time.