The South Australia Government insists it has not ignored the issue of
petrol sniffing in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Lands in the state's far
north-west.
Coroner Wayne Chivell has handed down his findings on the deaths of four
men, three of which were directly related to petrol sniffing.
In handing down his findings, Mr Chivell wondered if recommendations he
had made back in 2002 to address the problem were inappropriate or had
not been acted on.
But acting Aboriginal Affairs Minister Jay Weatherill says the State
Government has not ignored the recommendations and has put many
additional resources into the lands.
"We've acted on a range of Wayne Chevill's recommendations from 2002 and
we've added to them," he said.
"I mean, we've done things which weren't contemplated in those
recommendations - we've taken the matter further."
But the State Government has conceded more work needs to be done to
tackle the problem of petrol sniffing in remote Aboriginal communities.
Mr Weatherill says the State Government has committed $25 million over
five years in an effort to rebuild community-based programs.
"Initially our response was to ensure that we had as many people and
resources applied to the land as we possibly could, and what we're
seeking to do is put a coordinator in the land to see if those resources
are coordinated," he said.
"But look, more effort has been put and more responsibility has been
accepted for the APY Lands [Anangu Pitjantjatjara] by this Government
than any time in the last decade." |