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Shameful secret in the shadow of Uluru

By Nick Squires

13 August 2005 - The Daily Telegraph (UK) - It symbolises the harsh grandeur of the Outback and attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors a year, but the great red rock of Uluru hides a shameful secret that Australia's tourism promoters would rather the world did not see.

Just a few hundred yards from the giant monolith lies an impoverished desert settlement in which Aborigines are slowly poisoning themselves to death by sniffing petrol.

The habit slowly melts the nerve endings in their brains, crippling them and confining them to wheelchairs.

But despite the risks, some young Aboriginal girls are prepared to prostitute themselves for the price of a can of petrol, so desperate are they for the "highs" it brings when sniffed, community workers say.

Some addicts have been badly burned after the petrol they were sniffing caught fire.

The crisis is playing out in the tiny community of Mutitjulu, which lies barely 300 yards from Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock. It is part of an epidemic of petrol sniffing among desert Aborigines which has claimed at least 60 lives in the past seven years. Social workers believe the number of petrol sniffers has tripled since the late 1990s.

Mutitjulu's Aborigines belong to the Anangu tribe and are the traditional custodians of Uluru but, 130 years after the rock was first stumbled on by British explorers, they live in poverty and squalor. Hidden in dense bush land, the settlement is all but invisible to the tourists who flock to Australia's most recognisable natural feature.

"No one gives a damn," Bob Randall, the director of the local health clinic, told The Australian newspaper. "Everybody comes here to see the rock."

The scale of the problem was uncovered this week by an inquest into the deaths from petrol sniffing of three Aborigines, the youngest aged 14. Two of them died in Mutitjulu. Of the community's 400 inhabitants, about 40 are regular sniffers.

Aboriginal elders told the inquiry that they were powerless to prevent young people from sniffing petrol and destroying their health. "We can't stop it," one of them, Sarah Goodwin, said. "When they sniff, they don't listen to anyone."

The hearing, held beneath a tree, was interrupted by Mrs Goodwin's son, Stephen Uluru, who sat in the dust sniffing fumes from a can.

"I just like to stay at home and sniff so that I'm oblivious to everything, so that I don't have to worry about anything," he said. "I have a son and daughter but I don't have contact with them, I just stay here and sniff."

The sight of Mr Uluru sniffing petrol so distressed the Northern Territory coroner, Greg Cavanagh, that he cancelled the rest of the day's hearing.

Health experts say the petrol-sniffing epidemic reflects the despair felt by many Aborigines, who suffer from poor health, limited education and high unemployment.

"Petrol sniffing is causing serious social harm in the community," Greg Andrews, a social worker, said. "Young people are trying to hang themselves off the church steeple and others are exchanging petrol for sex."

As the owners of Uluru, the Aborigines of Mutitjulu receive about a fifth of the millions of pounds spent each year by visitors to the area.

The inquest was told that most of the money had been wasted on alcohol, drugs and cars, which are abandoned as soon as they break down. A few hundred yards away lies a massive car dump.

The government has tried to tackle the epidemic by providing remote communities with a new type of petrol which does not give addicts a "high" when sniffed.

Nick Squires

Source: The Daily Telegraph (UK)

Communities can't solve sniffing crisis

12 August 2005 - Governments cannot expect Aboriginal communities gripped by petrol sniffing and other addictions to solve those crises, a coroner says.

Prime Minister John Howard has made it clear he expects affected communities to take their share of responsibility for solving the petrol sniffing crisis.

But Northern Territory Coroner Greg Cavanagh, who has wrapped up an emotive four-day inquest into the deaths of three young sniffers in remote communities, has urged politicians to rethink their approach.

"The suggestion that the problems can be solved by the Aboriginal community in terms of simply saying in effect just give us some money, we'll do it, that's been tried and doesn't work," he said.

The inquest has heard violence is common among the 600 sniffers in central Australia, but there are few treatment options available.

In the sniffing-gripped community of Mutitjulu, the traditional owners of Uluru, the men who control the council are themselves alcoholics.

"We know the men aren't doing it (taking responsibility for the problem) ... it may be the men can't help, the men have got their own problems," Mr Cavanagh said.

"The start of any solution must be the recognition of the really horrible circumstances that pertain at Mutitjulu.

"Honest recognition, complete recognition, and if that's going to upset the sensibilities of ... politicians, then too bad in my view."

Youth worker Blair Macfarland told the inquest the sniffing crisis was resulting in serious violence.

"We have got a list of petrol sniffers, back in the office, killing, raping, maiming," he said.

"The list is appalling - that's the cost of neglect."

The inquest has heard Mutitjulu elders are forced to sleep in desert sand dunes fearing violence from sniffers who have trashed their houses, just a few hundred metres from the rock.

Petrol sniffers had also trashed several buildings in the community in recent months, including the adult education centre and health clinic.

Few treatment options were available for sniffers and their families, partly because sniffers were not classified as "mentally ill", the inquest was told.

Vicki Gillick, from the NPY Women's Council, said that just on Thursday the organisation was contacted by a hospital after a teenage sniffer with brain damage tried to kill herself.

The hospital was going to release her because she did not have a mental illness.

"If you don't have a mental illness ... you have to (leave)," Ms Gillick said.

"There's a dead end for services there."

Ms Gillick said young female sniffers were particularly vulnerable, with some men buying petrol and swapping it for sex with the women.

"Some of them (female sniffers) are incoherent," she said.

"They are preyed upon, not just in Mutitjulu, but in other parts of our region."

Mr Cavanagh acknowledged treatment services were needed with many brain damaged sniffers turning violent, and even into killers.

"It's scary. They need to be treated, housed, contained and looked after," he said.

The inquest was told early treatment was preferred, with the costs of full-time care for a single violent brain damaged sniffer as high as $700,000 per year.

Mr Cavanagh said there was "no magic single answer".

However he will consider making recommendations to the government on treatment and youth services in remote communities, and the possible universal roll-out of the unsniffable petrol Opal across the central deserts region.

He is due to hand down his findings in October.

Academic Peter D'Abbs, of James Cook University, said the inaction of various governments over time had contributed to the sniffing crisis.

The result had been fragmented policies, short-term funding and no efforts to evaluate which programs were working.

"I think one of the main factors up until very recently has been a position that governments ... have adopted," he told the hearing.

"They have said this is really a community problem and the community has to take ownership.

"... for communities to be left to themselves to meet these needs ... that's simply untenable."

But Prime Minister John Howard said indigenous communities must take on as much responsibility for solving the problem of petrol sniffing as governments.

He said everyone was concerned about the raft of problems in places like Mutitjulu, which included sniffing, chronic child abuse and drug dealing.

"I think everybody is concerned about that and that is why the commonwealth government has quite a number of programs there but it's a difficult problem," Mr Howard told reporters in Canberra.

"It's the result of many reasons and a lot of social dysfunction and ultimately the solution of the problem is in the hands of the communities as much as it is in the hands of governments."

Source: The Age

URGENT ACTION ON PETROL SNIFFING NEEDED

12 August 2005 - Media release ANTaR - Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation (ANTaR) has called for urgent action on petrol sniffing following an inquest into the deaths of three petrol sniffers in Central Australia.

“ANTaR supports the recommendation by the Central Australian Youth Link Up Service (CAYLUS) for an immediate expansion of the Opal non-sniffable petrol rollout across the Central Australian Cross Border region”, ANTaR National Director, David Cooper, said.

“Coroner Greg Cavanagh, described Opal petrol as a ‘practical and pragmatic’ solution”, Mr Cooper said.

“A problem with the current Federal Government subsidy of Opal fuel is that it is a patchwork, leaving many communities and regional sources where sniffable petrol can be obtained. Two of the deaths which are the subject of the current inquiry are from communities not covered by the current Opal scheme.

“Not expanding the scheme will mean significantly higher social and economic impacts.

“In the next few years in the Northern Territory alone the cost of caring for the expected additional 120 sniffers likely to acquire brain damage is a staggering $24 million per year. This compares with a cost of $8-9 million to extend the subsidy of Opal across the Central region.

“Expanding the Opal scheme will save lives, reduce the horrendous impacts on families and communities and save on future health costs.

“Expanding the scheme needs to be matched with more resources and commitment from governments to address the impacts of the over 700 petrol sniffers in the Central Australian Cross Border region. This means addressing the lack of essential services in remote communities and increased support for community initiatives to deal with substance abuse.

Media contact: David Cooper + 61 418 486 310 or +61 2 95556138

http:// www.antar.org.au

Background facts

• Petrol is usually the cheapest drug of choice for young people in remote communities
• Many users have sustained Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) and serious physical disabilities. A few are in full time supported care, while families, often ageing parents, bear the burden of caring for others
• Recent figures in 2004* show that on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Lands in the far north-west of South Australia alone, 8.4% of the population 222 out of around 2700 - were sniffing petrol. *(Nganampa Health Council).
• There are at least 500 petrol sniffers in the Central Desert Region and in some areas up to ten per cent of the population is sniffing.
• There is a very high level of violence and general dysfunction amongst petrol sniffers. Sniffing greatly reduces sexual inhibition, which in turn causes a number of problems including STDs and unplanned pregnancies.
• A recent evaluation of the COMGAS Scheme found that ‘the principal factor affecting the supply of petrol to a community is the proximity of the nearest source.’ (Dpt Health & Ageing, 2004:33)
  

For more information on OPAL go to: http://www.bp.com.au/products/fuels/opal/Opal_factsheet.pdf

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