Foreword
Petrol sniffing makes people die and kill people and hang
themselves and they fight and it makes
them sick and
make them hurt, really hurt from
sniffing.
(Dale, Class 6/7, Luurnpa Catholic School, Balgo, WA).
It makes you get brain damage and it makes you mad, it makes
you want to do bad things. They can burn a car or burn
your house down or break in.
(William, Class 6/7, Luurnpa Catholic School, Balgo, WA).
Disadvantage. Poverty. Hunger. Violence. Hopelessness. Despair.
Desolation.
Disability. Disease. Death.
These words
have echoed over the decades and throughout so many inquiries and reports into
substance abuse by Indigenous people. They are also the words used extensively
by witnesses to this inquiry.
In the 21st
century, many Indigenous people suffer a diminished and purposeless existence
in a developed and wealthy country where other Australians take opportunity,
education, good housing, clean water, good health and meaningful employment for
granted. That this is the case is both shocking and shameful.
Petrol
sniffing diminishes further an already disadvantaged existence. It robs young
Indigenous people of their future. It brings violence and even death. It
undermines the social fabric of communities and plunges them into crisis.
Communities
in crisis face complex problems but may not have the capacity to seek the
support required from government to develop and implement solutions. That a
community is in crisis does not mitigate against the responsibility of
government to deliver basic and essential services that are the right and
expectation of all Australians.
Communities
are entitled to be consulted about, and engaged in, the delivery of services
they receive. It is for the benefit of all – the individual, the community and
government – that community capacity is developed, community engagement
encouraged and government and communities work together to seek ways to
overcome petrol sniffing.
The
Committee does not want the recommendations in this report to be added to those
which have already been made and discussed but not fully implemented. The
Committee sees its recommendations as pointing a way ahead: a way to harness
the commitment that exists in Indigenous communities and in government to
address the problem of petrol sniffing and its underlying causes.
This must be the turning point.
All Australians must be able to say that they live with hope, dignity, purpose
and opportunity.
Senator
Claire Moore, Chair
ALP, Queensland
Senator Gary Humphries, Deputy Chair
LP,
Australian Capital
Territory
Senator
Judith Adams
LP, Western Australia
Senator Andrew Bartlett
AD,
Queensland
Senator
Trish Crossin
ALP Northern Territory
Senator Helen Polley
ALP,
Tasmania
Senator Rachel Siewert
AG, Western Australia
Senator Ruth Webber
ALP,
Western Australia
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