|
Petrol sniffing could return to central Aust, govt warned
Friday, 20 March 2009
8:33:54 AM
By Tara Ravens
NORTHERN TERRITORY March 20, 2009: Petrol sniffing could return to central Australia if laws banning the sale of regular petrol are not introduced by the federal government, experts say.
Money also needs to be spent on services to address the underlying reasons why people pick up the habit, which reached epidemic proportions in Alice Springs in 2006 when up to 500 sniffers roamed the desert town.
Since then, following the successful rollout of the "non-sniffable" fuel Opal, there had been a cut in petrol sniffers in the streets and communities.
Manufactured by BP, Opal has lower levels of aromatics than standard petrol, which provide sniffers with a "high".
But while all the Aboriginal communities in Central Australia have voluntarily switched to the new fuel, some petrol stations in the region have refused to stock it.
"(We're) concerned that more will shift away from Opal over time and that the sniffing will return," said Blair McFarland, from the Central Australian Youth Link Up Service.
Mr McFarland is part of a delegation travelling to Canberra to lobby the Rudd government to make it mandatory for all stations to stock Opal and in high risk areas, ban regular fuel altogether.
"The commonwealth is best placed to legislate due to the cross-border issues, and they have the power under the Australian constitution to do so," he said.
"Federal legislation would oblige petrol stations in strategic zones to stock Opal to prevent petrol sniffing in nearby Indigenous communities...
"The NT government can't make these laws because a lot of the petrol stations are over the border but they still affect NT communities."
The delegation also wants a $20 million investment in infrastructure and youth services, such as recreational halls, housing and youth workers.
"One reason that the region is still vulnerable to petrol sniffing is that the underlying causes have not been systematically addressed," said Vicki Gillick, coordinator of the Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Women's Council and a member of the delegation.
"There has been some work done but it's far from what's necessary. We need to have something for the kids to do, a substitute that will keep them off cannabis as well as petrol."
Ms Gillick's visit to Canberra is timed to coincide with the release of a report from a Senate inquiry into petrol sniffing, handed down yesterday. - AAP
|