SYDNEY -- Aborigines in the remote Australian Outback are going blind amid filthy conditions while white Australians luxuriate in some of the world's most sophisticated cities. It's a disaster waiting to happen, and that day looks close.
Fresh from a stunning electoral victory and vowing to push through reforms long denied by a Labor-dominated Senate, conservative Prime Minister John Howard is starting with arguably the most controversial of all -- how to get equality of opportunity for all citizens. For the minority Aborigines, the Howard way forward targets policies stressing mutual obligation and an end to passive welfare.
"Shared responsibility." The new buzz words sound sweet, but putting it into practice is going to be more difficult.