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This is an extract from a Parliamentary enquiry into petrol sniffing in remote aboriginal communities.
PETROL SNIFFING IN REMOTE NORTHERN TERRITORY COMMUNITIES
In addressing the question as to why Indigenous people drink to excess, smoke ‘ganga’ and sniff petrol, the submission describes a typical night for an extended family living on a community in overcrowded conditions, with no or little hope for the future.
For the most part, our people live in overcrowded circumstances. It's no exaggeration to imagine an extended family group of eight or nine people, ranging from babies and school kids through to aged pensioners, living in a three bedroom house. It's often worse than this. This is one night:
It is a drinking household. It is noisy until late most nights. There are drunken arguments – occasional violence, not just between the drinkers but perhaps also - towards the young and old. Most adults are unemployed or underemployed on the Local CDEP projects. A large proportion of the family income gets spent on grog, so there is often little food and bills are often unpaid. Perhaps the electricity is off, certainly there is no money to repair the broken fridge.
The kids are mostly hungry, which makes it impossible in the school next day. They are also tired as they were kept up last night. In any case, some of the kids are deaf – poor water supplies and hygiene take their toll on up to 100 per cent of school kids in some communities. The older kids have dropped out of school, either through truancy or the lack of secondary education. They have been up last night too, sick of being beaten by their uncle, they've spent the night wandering around the community with their mates.
Petrol was hard to get last night, so they have broken into the school to pinch glue. They got some money from a teacher's desk, so they will be able to buy some ganga later that day. They may not be old enough to get CDEP work: certainly other employment would be hard. Their spoken English is poor, and they can barely read or write - they have had only one year of "post secondary" schooling.
Money has run out in the household, but 'fortunately" grandma has her cheque coming through today social security payments in the household can now be staggered so there is money for grog every second or third day. Grandma wants to spend money on food for the grandkids but her older grand son will skip going to CDEP to make sure when she gets her cheque he can humbug her for enough money to pool with others for the $200 taxi ride into Katherine to buy grog. In any case, he has the shakes and wouldn't be able to operate the tractor at work anyway. His wife won't be on that trip – last night she has been hit over the head with a star picket and had to be taken into hospital. There she will join her younger sister who has just had a baby. She's been there for nearly a month as the kid has been born underweight. Another long night for the Aboriginal Health Workers, as well. There is no ambulance so they have had to use a private vehicle to get into Katherine.
The community night patrol has had a long night as well. They had missed the kids breaking into the school because they had been called out to a disturbance. They had stopped the argument, and successfully encouraged that household to stop drinking for the night. When they heard what had happened at the school they had a good idea who had done it, and picked the kids up. Should they call the cops? At least one of the kids would get a mandatory sentence of 28 days in Don Dale if they did, so they decide to talk to the family the next day to see if something can be worked out. The kid is sick – a sniffer - it's hard to see how a month in detention will change that. Perhaps he can be sent to his cousins out bush. In any case, the coppers were elsewhere last night. There had been a bad smash on the road that night. Six people, all drunk, had missed the crossing on the dirt road and were also in hospital. Two were not expected to live. It would be a hard task for the Aboriginal Community Police Officer, who is related to all involved, taking that sort of news to the families the next day.34
Constantly during its consultations in remote Indigenous communities the Committee was given the same message. Children who sniff are more likely to be suffering from the emotional abuse of neglect, from hunger and from the total trauma of living in a dysfunctional community with little or no prospects for change. As this submission observes, all this is unknown to the people who witness the public displays of anti-social behaviour on the streets of Katherine.
Again and again it was made obvious to the Committee that petrol sniffing, as with abusing alcohol, overuse of cannabis and kava and even the level of tobacco use amongst Indigenous people, is a way out, if only for a short time, from a hopeless situation.
PETROL SNIFFING IN REMOTE NORTHERN TERRITORY COMMUNITIES
In addressing the question as to why Indigenous people drink to excess, smoke ‘ganga’ and sniff petrol, the submission describes a typical night for an extended family living on a community in overcrowded conditions, with no or little hope for the future.
For the most part, our people live in overcrowded circumstances. It's no exaggeration to imagine an extended family group of eight or nine people, ranging from babies and school kids through to aged pensioners, living in a three bedroom house. It's often worse than this. This is one night:
It is a drinking household. It is noisy until late most nights. There are drunken arguments – occasional violence, not just between the drinkers but perhaps also - towards the young and old. Most adults are unemployed or underemployed on the Local CDEP projects. A large proportion of the family income gets spent on grog, so there is often little food and bills are often unpaid. Perhaps the electricity is off, certainly there is no money to repair the broken fridge.
The kids are mostly hungry, which makes it impossible in the school next day. They are also tired as they were kept up last night. In any case, some of the kids are deaf – poor water supplies and hygiene take their toll on up to 100 per cent of school kids in some communities. The older kids have dropped out of school, either through truancy or the lack of secondary education. They have been up last night too, sick of being beaten by their uncle, they've spent the night wandering around the community with their mates.
Petrol was hard to get last night, so they have broken into the school to pinch glue. They got some money from a teacher's desk, so they will be able to buy some ganga later that day. They may not be old enough to get CDEP work: certainly other employment would be hard. Their spoken English is poor, and they can barely read or write - they have had only one year of "post secondary" schooling.
Money has run out in the household, but 'fortunately" grandma has her cheque coming through today social security payments in the household can now be staggered so there is money for grog every second or third day. Grandma wants to spend money on food for the grandkids but her older grand son will skip going to CDEP to make sure when she gets her cheque he can humbug her for enough money to pool with others for the $200 taxi ride into Katherine to buy grog. In any case, he has the shakes and wouldn't be able to operate the tractor at work anyway. His wife won't be on that trip – last night she has been hit over the head with a star picket and had to be taken into hospital. There she will join her younger sister who has just had a baby. She's been there for nearly a month as the kid has been born underweight. Another long night for the Aboriginal Health Workers, as well. There is no ambulance so they have had to use a private vehicle to get into Katherine.
The community night patrol has had a long night as well. They had missed the kids breaking into the school because they had been called out to a disturbance. They had stopped the argument, and successfully encouraged that household to stop drinking for the night. When they heard what had happened at the school they had a good idea who had done it, and picked the kids up. Should they call the cops? At least one of the kids would get a mandatory sentence of 28 days in Don Dale if they did, so they decide to talk to the family the next day to see if something can be worked out. The kid is sick – a sniffer - it's hard to see how a month in detention will change that. Perhaps he can be sent to his cousins out bush. In any case, the coppers were elsewhere last night. There had been a bad smash on the road that night. Six people, all drunk, had missed the crossing on the dirt road and were also in hospital. Two were not expected to live. It would be a hard task for the Aboriginal Community Police Officer, who is related to all involved, taking that sort of news to the families the next day.34
Constantly during its consultations in remote Indigenous communities the Committee was given the same message. Children who sniff are more likely to be suffering from the emotional abuse of neglect, from hunger and from the total trauma of living in a dysfunctional community with little or no prospects for change. As this submission observes, all this is unknown to the people who witness the public displays of anti-social behaviour on the streets of Katherine.
Again and again it was made obvious to the Committee that petrol sniffing, as with abusing alcohol, overuse of cannabis and kava and even the level of tobacco use amongst Indigenous people, is a way out, if only for a short time, from a hopeless situation.
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