howie’s halfpipe

It was very interesting to see the sudden response from the Government to act on the problem of alcoholism and child abuse in remote Aboriginal communities specifically in the Northern territory.
 

Howard announced yesterday that the government was going to take control and over the next 5 years emplace a 6 month ban on the sale, transportation and consumption of alcohol in these remote communities.
 

The idea is that by banning drinking and pornography that the now disturbing rate of child abuse will decrease significantly. I know already that there are many many dry communities in the NT. Where Indigenous communities have realized that the bottle is destroying their lives and those around them so they have created dry communities. It hasn’t been easy and some communities even don’t allow vehicles into their community unless there is a lock on the fuel tank to that people cant extract the petrol and sniff it.
 

I think it’s a good idea to help indigenous communities to loose the bottle and bring back the strong communities they once had.  Part the the problem however with the Governments new strategy is that they haven’t recognized that it is our fault they have gotten into this situation. Before whit man there was not alcohol. Also a lot of Aboriginal people have a very negative view and respect for the government, which in many cases is highly understandable given the treatment of Aboriginal people in this country since our invasion.
If the government suddenly sends in this ban backed by a hoard of police surely that is just going to get indigenous people off-side even more. Alcoholism is a chemical addiction, and if suddenly everyone has to go cold turkey it could have a dramatic effect.
 

It seems a bit to much to me. Surely there are less aggressive ways to help communities loose the bottle. Not just send in the troops.
I don’t know I don’t really have any answers just seems a bit tough.