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CANBERRA, Australia (AP) - The traditional owners of Ayers Rock threatened Tuesday to ban tourists from climbing Australia's iconic monolith in response to a government plan to combat child abuse in the Outback.
Aborigines say the plan is heavy-handed and accuse the government of trying to use it to roll back indigenous land rights.
Prime Minister John Howard rejected criticism of his plan, saying it was interventionist but necessary to stop the child sexual abuse that a recent report concluded was rampant in Aboriginal communities in Australia's Northern Territory.
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