Father of the Nation- I think not

I've been trying to think of what upsets me most about Howard's plan to 'fix' the Aboriginal sex abuse problem in the NT.

It's not that I think the PM is not genuinely concerned to do some good. Anyone with a beating heart would feel inclined to do something after reading any of the numerous reports of the last ten years. The Howard/Brough plan will no doubt do some good, somewhere, sometime. Enough money and resouces are going to be thrown at the problem after all.

I think the thing that upsets me most is the fact that Howard and his government have ignored the problem for the last 11 years only to suddenly see the light just before an election. Again that wouldn't be so bad if the motivation was clearly and solely to win political brownie points (ie votes) for being compassionate. Unfortunately there is more to it than that. The second string to his agenda is to once again garner the ex-One Nation vote by demonising all Aborigines as drunken paedophiles.

Locally we had a brush with this approach last week when the Federal Member for Gilmore followed her PM's lead and pointed the finger of suspicion at the Wreck Bay Aboriginal community.

This was a totally gratuitous and cheap shot designed to let the white-pointy-hat brigade know that she too is willing to be tough on blacks.

How best then to regard Howard and his willing followers in this matter?

Well consider this analogy: How would you regard parents who only fed and dressed their kids adequately when Grandma was due for her weekly visit. And that only because they had one eye firmly on the contents of Grandma's last will and testament? You wouldn't begrudge the kids their one hearty meal of the week but you wouldn't regard Mum and Dad as model parents either.

To suddenly 'discover' that the problems of Aboriginal communities are a "National emergency" a few months before an election that the polls say he is likely to lose, is equally cynical and self-serving but I wouldn't deny the Aboriginal communities any good that might flow from the PM's sudden awakening.