John Hogg (Queensland, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Firstly I want to commend the Senate Community Affairs References Committee for the inquiry it undertook and for the excellent report it has presented on this subject, Beyond petrol sniffing: renewing hope for Indigenous communities. When I read the report, it hit me that this is not anything new. It is something that has been addressed, according to the report itself, over a 20-year period. It really gets down to the heart of the dignity of the human being—the dignity of people and their self-respect.

Petrol sniffing in some of these Indigenous communities has had quite catastrophic effects on not only the individuals who have partaken of it but the communities themselves. I am not just speaking in isolation here. I have had the pleasure of visiting one of the communities mentioned in the report, Yuendumu, and I have had engagement with members of the Indigenous community there about the successes that they have had. The one thing in particular that I must say is that I am in total admiration of many of the Indigenous women who have taken a leading role in bringing this problem to hand and controlling it within those communities.

I will not try to summarise the report, but it says very clearly that the health impacts include chronic disability and the social impacts include violence, crime and breakdown of community structures. It goes on to say that this issue has been the subject of many reports. The reasons for it, the report goes on to say, are well known indeed. Many research projects have confirmed and substantiated what this inquiry by the Senate Community Affairs Reference Committee once again found. It is a pity that we have got to the stage where we have to keep having reports into issues such as this. I know that there is no magic formula, no magic panacea, that will overcome the difficulties that are confronting many of the young people in these Indigenous communities—and in some of our other communities, for that matter. I think one should not just see it in isolation as being an Indigenous problem, but that is the focus of this particular inquiry.

There are no short-term solutions, as the report goes on to point out. One of the ways to ameliorate the problem is to try to have the supply of Opal to reduce the petrol sniffing. Opal is a fuel without the odour that is the attraction of petrol sniffing to people who are suffering from things such as hunger, poverty and boredom. The rollout of Opal has been and will be an important factor, but not the only factor, in limiting access to petrol for petrol sniffing. To his credit, Minister Abbott acted quickly in response to this report and there has been a rollout, as I understand it, in Central Australia of Opal fuel to limit the amount of petrol sniffing that takes place.

Whilst that is laudable and praiseworthy, there is a cost associated with that rollout. But the potential cost saving in terms of health care in Indigenous communities and in the self-respect and wellbeing of the individuals who are saved from the effects of petrol sniffing far outweigh the costs that might be associated with the expansion of the availability of Opal not only in Central Australia but also in other parts of Australia. Whilst it is a step in the right direction, as I understand it the process there has still a long way to go yet. I urge the government to go all the way and to give what support is needed in this area so that petrol sniffing becomes a thing of the past in Aboriginal communities.

The second thing that arises out of this report is that there is a lack of youth workers and programs at this stage to engage the young people in these communities and to take them away from substance abuse such as petrol sniffing. Of course, that gap cannot be filled instantaneously. Nonetheless, filling it will be a critical part of the solution to the problem that is facing those communities. So, whilst the increased availability of Opal will take away the substance itself, it will not take away the problems that these communities are facing, particularly the young people in these communities.

I had the good fortune only the other week to visit Warburton in Western Australia. There is a good program in place there. A very vital and very effective young person is operating a youth program which helps to occupy the young Indigenous people in that community. The young people whom I met were healthy, vibrant and did not, from what I saw, have a reliance upon distractions such as petrol sniffing and other substance abuse. That does not mean that it does not occur. I am not saying that for one moment. But it shows the need for a good youth worker and a good program to be available in the communities. It is not simply a matter that one can gloss over. It requires money, resources, people of goodwill and people who are competent to deliver these programs such that the Indigenous youth in these communities can steer clear of problems such as petrol sniffing and its adverse effects as outlined in this report.

The other thing is funding. The funding at this stage, as I understand it, is only for a 12-month period. The funding really needs to be for the longer term. Until funding for the longer term can be established, there are only going to be at best piecemeal efforts to overcome some of the difficulties that are confronting these communities. As I said, it is not just communities in Central Australia. I understand some communities in North Queensland have had the benefit of Opal fuel extended to them. It is also about access to youth workers and to youth programs. The communities that are confronting these problems, these difficulties, are to be commended. I think that it says a great deal for the strength of some of these communities that, having suffered the ravages of difficulties such as petrol sniffing over a period time, they have been able to redress the problems that were there and are now holding their heads high.

I commend the report to the Senate. I draw the attention of those who are interested in reading the report to the recommendations at the front of the report. They clearly outline the goodwill of the committee and the deliberations that took place to bring down such a report, and unless anyone else wants to speak on it I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.