Australia's Aboriginal plan labelled as racist

CANBERRA, June 22 (Reuters) An Australian government move to combat child sex abuse by seizing control of remote indigenous communities is racist and could do more harm than good, critics of the plan said today.

Prime Minister John Howard announced yesterday that the federal government would take control of about 60 remote communities in the Northern Territory, banning alcohol and pornography in settlements to keep Aboriginal children safe from violence and abuse.

While the government's move to halt child abuse was widely welcomed, critics said the government had sidelined Aborigines from any say over policies affecting their lives, and said alcohol bans should apply to everybody, not just Aborigines.

''The Howard plan is selective, cynical and racist,'' Australian Greens leader Bob Brown said today, adding the Howard government had neglected Aboriginal health for 11 years and decided to act only in the lead-up to a national election.

Many Aboriginal communities already ban alcohol on their lands, but many overcome the restrictions by visiting bigger local towns to buy and drink alcohol, before returning home.

Fed up with local inaction, Howard said yesterday that Aboriginal child sex abuse and violence was a national emergency, and said the federal government would override local authorities to impose new restrictions on Northern Territory communities.

Howard's intervention came a week after a report found child sexual abuse was widespread in Aboriginal communities, which were being destroyed by ''a river of grog'' or alcohol.

Alcohol was also used as a bartering tool to procure children for sex, it said.

PATERNALISM? Howard defended the measures today, saying the old approach of leaving problems to local authorities had ''demonstrably failed'' and governments had been too timid to intervene because of accusations of paternalism.

''Frankly, the care and protection of children is more important to me than slavishly following some philosophy or doctrine,'' Howard told Australian radio. ''In the end, if you can't protect children, you've failed.'' Throughout his 11 years in power, Howard has targeted practical measures to improve Aboriginal disadvantage, often angering critics with his tough-love approach at the expense of symbolism, such as an apology for past injustices.

Australia's indigenous Social Justice Commissioner, Tom Calma, who has criticised the government for eroding Aboriginal self-determination, said the intervention would not solve the problem without other long-term support measures.

''Cleaning up houses and cutting off grog is not going to solve the problem,'' Calma told Australian radio, adding that problems of alcohol and violence needed more than a law-and-order response.

Indigenous policy expert Tim Rowse said the government had effectively killed off Aboriginal self determination with its plan to intervene, which was decided without consulting Aboriginal communities.

''They're saying we know what's good, you guys have completely screwed up self-determination, we're going to run your lives for you now,'' Rowse, from the Australian National University, told Reuters today.

Howard, Rowse said, wanted the issue on the agenda for elections due late this year to help him appear strong on leadership and as a defender of child rights, both electoral winners.

The opposition Australian Democrats said Howard's plan could breach racial discrimination laws, as they apply to Aboriginal communities but not to white Australians in other towns in the Northern Territory.

''These are not just niceties that can be cast aside,'' Democrats leader Lynn Allison said in a statement.

REUTERS KK PM1325