Trish Crossin (NT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Santoro, Minister representing the Minister for Health and Ageing. I refer the minister to the tragic deaths of two teenagers—and another is on life support in Royal Darwin Hospital—due to petrol sniffing last weekend at Oenpelli in the Northern Territory. It is a tragedy that has plunged the whole community into total grief and despair. Can the minister confirm that non-sniffable Opal fuel has not been rolled out to Oenpelli and the surrounding area? Is the minister aware of a study by Access Economics earlier this year which found that a widespread rollout of Opal would have a net benefit for governments through savings to the health and criminal justice systems? Didn’t this research conclude that the cost of not rolling out Opal is higher than the cost of doing so and that a more widespread rollout could prevent loss of life? Given those findings and the latest deaths at Oenpelli, will the government now commit to an immediate rollout of Opal fuel across all communities affected by petrol sniffing?