Call for larger roll out of non-sniffable fuel

ELIZABETH JACKSON: The Federal Government is under pressure to introduce non-sniffable petrol throughout central Australia.

The petrol has been available in remote areas but this has resulted in petrol sniffers moving into more populated centres.

This week the Northern Territory Government has just introduced new legislation banning petrol sniffing and forcing chronic sniffers into care. But health workers say it's not enough to fix the problem.

Sara Everingham has this report from Alice Springs.

(sound of traffic passing by)

SARA EVERINGHAM: On the Stuart Highway in the north of Alice Springs, the manager of Stuart Highway Autos, Alan Thorpe, is careful to leave only diesel vehicles outside in the car yard.

He says everyday petrol sniffers try to break into his cars to steal petrol.

ALAN THORPE: Mainly it's during the night. Sometimes we're copping it during the daytime. They actually attack the cars parked out on the road so…

SARA EVERINGHAM: During the day?

ALAN THORPE: … yeah during the day. They're not a violent people. They're usually really young kids, which is a bit sad really.

ALAN THORPE: Have they caused much damage to the cars?

ALAN THORPE: They can do.

They'll pry open the fuel caps. Most of us are not really doing a lot to make them overly secure, because if you make the caps too secure they'll stick holes through the tanks.

SARA EVERINGHAM: Youth workers like Antoinette Carroll from Reconnect in Alice Springs say they've noticed a sharp increase in the number of petrol sniffers in the town over the past six months.

ANTOINETTE CARROLL: What we're noticing is that they're predominantly older boys, I'll be honest, coming in from community and sniffing petrol. Obviously we run the risk then of younger kids that we work with engaging as well and they have been.

ANTOINETTE CARROLL: Why do you think they're coming into town?

ANTOINETTE CARROLL: I think some of the communities that they're from have now got Opal in place.

SARA EVERINGHAM: This year the Federal Government launched Opal – a fuel that can't be sniffed to get high.

The Federal Government is spending more than $10 million over four years putting non-sniffable fuels into 60 remote communities in Australia. But that hasn't solved the problem.

Antoinette Carroll says introducing non-sniffable fuels has helped, but has also caused some chronic sniffers to move into urban areas like Alice Springs.

Last week the Northern Territory Parliament passed legislation which gives police the power to confiscate petrol from sniffers and take them to a safe place.

The Territory Government also says it will spend $10 million over five years on the problem with most of that money going to treatment services.

Antoinette Carroll welcomes the legislation but says it doesn't go far enough, she says there won't be enough services in Alice Springs to cope with demand and ten million dollars won't go far.

ANTOINETTE CARROLL: It's going to take years, so it's ongoing, so this $10 million will need to be really, you know, topped up in recurrent funding for these programs.

SARA EVERINGHAM: One Aboriginal Council in the town believes it has the solution. Tristan Ray works with petrol sniffers for the Tangentyere Council in Alice Springs. He's been calling on the Federal Government to subsidise a roll out of the Opal fuel throughout central Australia – that's from Port Augusta to Katherine and west to Laverton in Western Australia.

TRISTAN RAY: When there's still petrol in places like Alice Springs we do see that movement of people toward petrol. We also see trafficking.

SARA EVERINGHAM: Do you think the Federal Government would really outlay that much money?

TRISTAN RAY: $8 million a year? We're already paying that. We're already paying that for people who are brain damaged. They're outlaying it anyway.

SARA EVERINGHAM: Alan Thorpe from Stuart Highway Autos believes more rehabilitation services for petrol sniffers are essential.

And he agrees that rolling out Opal would be a positive step.

ALAN THORPE: We caught one probably several months ago now that would had to have been under 11-years-old. If they kept up that habit I'd say at 15 they'd be brain dead. You know you could end up with 40 years of care, and what's that worth?

ELIZABETH JACKSON: Auto shop owner Alan Thorpe with our reporter Sara Everingham.

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Saturday 14th May 2005
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation News Online
Reporter: Sara Everingham
Website: http://www.abc.net.au
Email: comments@your.abc.net.au
Copyright: 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation