Tourist access to one of Australia's most famous landmarks, Uluru, or Ayers Rock, may be under threat, due to a dispute between the government and Aboriginal elders in the region.
The conflict has arisen out of the governmental response to what prime minister John Howard calls "Australia's Katrina", namely the failure to adequately deal with child sex abuse in Aboriginal communities.
In riposte to evidence of child sex abuse, the government has imposed a six-month ban on pornography and alcohol in the Northern Territory, as well as compulsory checks for Aboriginal children.
However, critics have argued that Mr Howard has politicised the issue, in light of the upcoming election, while Aboriginal representatives have labelled the government plans authoritarian.
"What the prime minister and his minister, Mal Brough, are proposing is in the view of the combined Aboriginal organisations in Alice Springs totally unworkable," said their spokesman Pat Turner.
"We believe that this government is using child sexual abuse as the Trojan horse to resume total control of our lands."
Vince Forrester, leader of the Mutitjulu township near Uluru has said that the community was considering enforcing a ban on climbing the rock.
Talking to Australian radio, he said: "The tourist industry brings a lot of dollars into the territory and tourists all come to Uluru.
"Obviously, civil disobedience can come in protest form."
