AM - Petrol sniffing ruins lives of Uluru's Indigenous youth

ELIZABETH JACKSON: Every year hundreds of thousands of tourists flock to Australia's famous icon, Uluru. But who among them would know that hidden in the rock's shadow is a community of traditional Aborigines living in squalor and despair, unimaginable to most outsiders?

Petrol sniffing and substance abuse is killing many of Mutitjulu's young residents, the traditional owners of Uluru.

The Northern Territory coroner was so shocked at the plight of the Anangu people, he cut short a special bush hearing into the deaths of three young sniffers, as Anne Barker reports from Uluru.

(Sound of Stephen Uluru speaking)

TRANSLATOR: He said "I ran away from school to sniff petrol."

ANNE BARKER: This is Stephen Uluru, a chronic petrol sniffer at Mutitjulu 450 kms west of Alice Springs.

STEPHEN ULURU (translated): I just like to stay at home and sniff so that I'm oblivious to everything, that I don't have to worry about anything, I don't have to think about anything…

ANNE BARKER: He's one of about 15 sniffers here who spend their entire days with a can of petrol permanently at their faces. And like the two men who died last year, he's sniffed petrol for half his life.

STEPHEN ULURU (translated): I forget about my family. I have a son and daughter and they're growing up in Santa Teresa, I don't have contact with them, I just stay here and sniff.

ANNE BARKER: Stephen Uluru is a familiar sight around Mutitjulu. So familiar, he accompanied his mother as she gave evidence at the inquest, all the while he inhaled from a can of petrol tucked under his shirt.

His sniffing so distressed the coroner, Greg Cavanagh, he abandoned the rest of the day's hearing.

It was a decision that disappointed Mutitjulu's Council chair, Graeme Calma.

GRAEME CALMA: It's something that happens every day. You know, they walk through the community all the time with cans to their face. It's disappointing because I was really hoping that the community members could make some sort of sense out of the whole thing.

ANNE BARKER: The Anangu people of Mutitjulu literally live in the shadow of Uluru. The giant rock's eastern face towers above them, barely 300m away. But few of the tourists who visit the rock would have any idea of the tragedy playing out nearby.

Greg Andrews, who runs a government funded community project, says petrol along with alcohol and drugs have created an epidemic of addiction at Mutitjulu.

GREG ANDREWS: It's not only a way of life, but it's causing serious human rights abuses and egregious social harm in the community, for example, young people are trying to hang themselves off the church steeple and some young people are exchanging petrol for sex.

ANNE BARKER: Witnesses at the inquest have talked of huge sums of money at Mutitjulu wasted on grog, drugs and motor cars. About 20 per cent of the gate fees at Uluru National Park goes back to traditional owners in royalties.

But here at Mutitjulu there's nothing to show for it but poverty and neglect. It's common for many residents to spend their royalties on used cars and then dump them as soon as they break down.

Coroner Greg Cavanagh was even shown what locals call a world heritage car dump, with the wrecks of more than 1,000 vehicles just a few hundred metres from the famous rock.

But Greg Andrews says for all the community's dysfunction, governments are only adding to the problem by fostering dysfunctional relationships with Indigenous Australia.

GREG ANDREWS: What they've been doing probably for about the last 30 years is providing grant funding and then walking away. But what's more important than whether or not the money's being spent is the outcomes.

ELIZABETH JACKSON: That was Greg Andrews, a Community worker at Mutitjulu with our reporter, Anne Barker.

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Thur, 11 August 2005
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia Web)
Reporter: Anne Barker
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Copyright: 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Website: http://www.abc.net.au/