Claire Moore (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In light of some of the comments that we have seen in the Alice Springs media over the last few weeks, which have caused a degree of concern for many of us—and, I am sure, for most people in the community—I feel it is important to remind people in this place of the recommendations of the Community Affairs References Committee in its report entitled Beyond petrol sniffing: renewing hope for Indigenous communities. This was an extremely confronting report process for members of the Community Affairs References Committee. It involved several months of community consultation, during which time we heard from a range of people. The inquiry resulted from a motion that was brought into this place originally by Senator Brown and was later enhanced by Northern Territory senators from both sides of the chamber. We focused in this report on issues that were positive for communities that were struggling with the scourge of petrol sniffing.

One particular focus of this report was the potential and actual use of Opal fuel. It is on that particular point that I bring to this place tonight a strong sense of frustration and anger over what appears to be occurring in Alice Springs. It is very difficult to know, because it is a sensitive issue and a very dynamic community, but the local press in the Alice Springs area has been running quite sensational articles about concerns regarding the actual effectiveness of Opal fuel. This beat-up campaign, which has promulgated a lack of respect for and a lack of confidence in the use of Opal fuel, has resulted in fear about using that fuel by members of the community, both the local community and the very strong tourism community that travels through Alice Springs.

In a response given yesterday by Minister Santoro, we heard that, whilst there have been some problems with fuel in Alice Springs, research shows that these problems cannot be traced back to Opal—and that is the key issue. This is a time when we should be promoting the use of Opal fuel. A specific recommendation of our report was that we assess the usage of this fuel and work with its producers. Opal is a wonderful Western Australian BP product. I want to put on record the great support and information we received from BP Australia at its Western Australian plant—of which you would be aware, Mr Acting Deputy President Lightfoot—where we looked at the scientific advances that had occurred to create this particular fuel. This fuel is effective, does not harm engines and, importantly, does not have the ability to create whatever it is in fuel that gives people the high they get when they sniff petrol. I see that Senator Polley has come into the chamber; she was also part of the quite wonderful experience of being on this committee.

Through this process, one of the things we learned was that, naturally, you need to engage your local community when looking for a solution. In our report, a quote by the Alice Springs Town Council reads as follows:

There is a consciousness in Alice Springs that we can be either part of the problem or part of the solution. I am 100 per cent sure that most people would prefer to be part of the latter and would have no problem with converting to Opal fuel if their vehicles permit that. The other fuel, as I say, is not an issue for the community.

So there is a real sense in the local area that, if it were widely publicised and understood that this alternative option was safe and effective for usage, with a community campaign—and there always must be effective campaigning—there would be an openness and a willingness to transfer to that fuel in the Alice Springs region, which is a key central area where so many people travel; there would be a sense of confidence in moving to the supply of Opal.

This report was brought down in June 2006. Here we are in December 2006, moving into the wet season—people who have experienced that process in that part of Central Australia know of the particular isolation and social issues that arise in that part of the world at that time. All of us who were involved in this committee had great hope and expectation that by this time we would be moving to the next stage of this debate. We hoped and expected that by this Christmas period, when the kids were not in school, there would be a reduction in the option of having sniffable fuel in the community. A particular aspect of this addiction is that people tend to drift in and out of the scourge of petrol sniffing. The really sad thing is when people are no longer able to move out of petrol sniffing and are caught up in almost a lifelong process.

We had a real opportunity to allow people to make a conscious choice to no longer access cheap petrol to get that high and they would have no access to it in the community, because the major petrol retailers would be supplying Opal. The motorists in the area would know that Opal was there and would be able to use it at a reasonable cost, because we were encouraging the government to keep rolling out the subsidies for the process. All those bricks in the campaign would have been in place. However, to our absolute frustration, we have found that in December 2006 a fear process is being widely promoted in the Alice Springs community and it has put some scare into whether Opal fuel can be effectively used. Quite rightly, if you have a vehicle that is your livelihood or into which you have put a lot of money, you will not risk it by using petrol about which there are allegations that it may harm the engine—and this is what is running through the community.

Therefore, there is not the same availability of Opal in Alice Springs that we as a community group had hoped in June that there would be by December 2006. We hoped that we would have moved that step forward so that, as said by the Alice Springs Town Council, the community would be part of the solution, not part of the problem. No-one on our committee and none of the witnesses who came before us felt that the availability of Opal fuel by itself was going to stop petrol sniffing. What we did believe, what we were confident about and what we gave our commitment to the community about, was that we would as a government and as a parliament do our bit to ensure that the fear aspect would be removed.

We hoped to work effectively with the petrol wholesalers and work through a program of education with the wholesalers locally and the people who sell the fuel. We hoped that this would extend to an education campaign targeting the local community, the schools, the families and the town council so that we would work together to ensure that this particular element—access to a non-sniffable fuel—would be achieved. On top of that, we could then build that extended process. People would be able to rebuild their lives. As we said in our committee report, we would be moving beyond petrol sniffing. It would be part of a solution.

We hope that by bringing these issues to the awareness of our parliament and to the awareness of the public sector—which is working to implement the policy which we have already been told is in place—we will have some action and no more excuses or promises about what is going to happen next. What should be happening now is what we were told was going to happen six months ago, which was that education component—that first step. We were told that that would be in place and that it would not be waiting until next year after another group of kids have been caught up in using petrol as something that gives them the ability to move beyond the other things that cause them to take up addiction. As I have said, there are many parts of this campaign. We need to look at the basic causes of why people choose to sniff petrol, but if we as a community can at least limit the access to the fuel, that will be a step. And we should have been able to achieve that step before this year’s school holidays.

I hope that the government can at least now have a public campaign in Alice Springs through the same local media that has been spreading the story that Opal may be of danger to the vehicles and engines. There should be some sort of public awareness campaign to reassure the community that Opal fuel is not unsafe. The vehicles that can use Opal should be widely publicised; we should do the same for Opal that we do for leaded and unleaded fuel. I will not go any further technically, because I will get lost there. We should be able to have confidence that the kinds of commitments that we on the community affairs committee all made are kept. It was a wonderful experience. But what we told the people who were brave enough to come to us and give us their stories and their hopes was that we were not going to just move away and forget them. We told them that this committee was going to have action. Let us get the education right and ensure that Opal is used in Central Australia. I seek leave to continue my remarks.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.