Phil in Paris
12-13-2004, 10:20 PM
SYDNEY (AFP) - Energized by a resounding election victory, conservative Australian Prime Minister John Howard has embarked on a controversial plan to reinvent Aboriginal culture.
Howard told Australia's 400,000 Aborigines last week they need to become more "entrepreneurial" to overcome endemic social problems and talked of replacing traditional communal land ownership structures with private land rights.
But the plan was described as humiliating by Aboriginal leaders after its first details were released, covering a community in Western Australia who were offered petrol pumps in return for ensuring their children were washed regularly.
Howard said Aboriginal culture needed to change.
"They still lag way behind the rest of the community and it is not just a question of money, because a lot more money has been put into Aboriginal health," Howard told Melbourne radio this week. "It's a question of culture. It is a question of practice. It is a question of attitude."
Relations between Howard and the indigenous community have been tense during his eight years in power, particularly over his refusal to apologize to the "stolen generation" of Aboriginal children taken from their parents in the last century.
Matters were made worse when Howard this year abolished the elected Aboriginal body, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC).
While indigenous issues barely rated a mention during the October 9 election campaign, a victorious Howard has moved to tackle Aboriginal social issues since being returned to power with an increased majority.
Aborigines make up barely two percent of Australia's population but suffer far higher rates of alcoholism, unemployment, imprisonment and domestic abuse.
The average life expectancy of Aborigines is 20 years less than other Australians.
Since the poll, Howard has endorsed a new policy of "shared responsibility" designed to end decades of Aboriginal welfare dependency and overcome indigenous alienation towards mainstream Australian society.
Howard said the National Indigenous Council, a government-appointed body which has replaced the indigenous-elected ATSIC, had backed his plan to foster a private enterprise culture.
"I was particularly encouraged by many members of the council of their need to base Aboriginal policy in the future on the development of a more entrepreneurial culture," Howard told parliament.
The first practical outcomes of the new policy were revealed last week when news leaked out that the Mulan community in outback Western Australia state would receive a 172,000-dollar ($132,400) grant to acquire petrol pumps, expected to generate tourism-related jobs.
In return Mulan residents agreed to ensure their children showered daily and wash their faces twice a day, to empty household rubbish bins twice weekly and carry out home pest control four times a year.
Critics described the deal as humiliating and patronizing but Howard said it presented "common sense" a solution to ongoing problems.
Aboriginal activist Pat Dodson said the plan had uncomfortable echoes of policies early in the last century when children were taken from their parents and taken church missions, the so-called "stolen generation".
http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=12/14/2004&Cat=5&Num=2
Howard told Australia's 400,000 Aborigines last week they need to become more "entrepreneurial" to overcome endemic social problems and talked of replacing traditional communal land ownership structures with private land rights.
But the plan was described as humiliating by Aboriginal leaders after its first details were released, covering a community in Western Australia who were offered petrol pumps in return for ensuring their children were washed regularly.
Howard said Aboriginal culture needed to change.
"They still lag way behind the rest of the community and it is not just a question of money, because a lot more money has been put into Aboriginal health," Howard told Melbourne radio this week. "It's a question of culture. It is a question of practice. It is a question of attitude."
Relations between Howard and the indigenous community have been tense during his eight years in power, particularly over his refusal to apologize to the "stolen generation" of Aboriginal children taken from their parents in the last century.
Matters were made worse when Howard this year abolished the elected Aboriginal body, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC).
While indigenous issues barely rated a mention during the October 9 election campaign, a victorious Howard has moved to tackle Aboriginal social issues since being returned to power with an increased majority.
Aborigines make up barely two percent of Australia's population but suffer far higher rates of alcoholism, unemployment, imprisonment and domestic abuse.
The average life expectancy of Aborigines is 20 years less than other Australians.
Since the poll, Howard has endorsed a new policy of "shared responsibility" designed to end decades of Aboriginal welfare dependency and overcome indigenous alienation towards mainstream Australian society.
Howard said the National Indigenous Council, a government-appointed body which has replaced the indigenous-elected ATSIC, had backed his plan to foster a private enterprise culture.
"I was particularly encouraged by many members of the council of their need to base Aboriginal policy in the future on the development of a more entrepreneurial culture," Howard told parliament.
The first practical outcomes of the new policy were revealed last week when news leaked out that the Mulan community in outback Western Australia state would receive a 172,000-dollar ($132,400) grant to acquire petrol pumps, expected to generate tourism-related jobs.
In return Mulan residents agreed to ensure their children showered daily and wash their faces twice a day, to empty household rubbish bins twice weekly and carry out home pest control four times a year.
Critics described the deal as humiliating and patronizing but Howard said it presented "common sense" a solution to ongoing problems.
Aboriginal activist Pat Dodson said the plan had uncomfortable echoes of policies early in the last century when children were taken from their parents and taken church missions, the so-called "stolen generation".
http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=12/14/2004&Cat=5&Num=2