[Greens-Media] Petrol sniffing death demands Prime Ministerial action

[Oquist, Ben (Sen B. Brown)]

Tuesday, 30 August 2005

Petrol sniffing death demands Prime Ministerial action

The Prime Minister must personally intervene to address the petrol
sniffing crisis following the death of a 32 year old man after sniffing
petrol at Uluru, Greens Senator Bob Brown said today.

The Greens have put forward a plan to put non-sniffable OPAL petrol
throughout Central Australia but so far the Health Minister, Tony
Abbott, and Aboriginal Affairs Minister, Senator Vanstone, have refused
to act.

"The plan, to get rid of the standard (aromatic) petrol, would cost as
little as $8-10 million per annum and has been developed by indigenous
communities to address the petrol sniffing scourge gripping central
Australia," Senator Brown said.

"How can Mr Howard be considering tax cuts worth billions of dollars but
refuse to fund this scheme?" Senator Brown asked.

Further information: Prue Cameron 0362341633 or 0408473379