Axe Welfare And Seize Drug Cars

[Oz]

AUTOMATIC and unconditional welfare payments to people living in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Lands must end to encourage young indigenous people to seek work, says the Lands' new co-ordinator.

 

A straight-talking Bob Collins yesterday said confiscating and selling the vehicles of drug, alcohol and petrol smugglers was also needed to stamp out an "epidemic" of substance abuse.

 

He said boredom and a lack of incentive to work or contribute to the community had led to a spiral of drug use, petrol sniffing, violence and suicide.

 

"There is a major piece of public policy that's got to be addressed at the Commonwealth level," Mr Collins said.

 

"If you want to give people a real reason for going to work, you've got to take away the reason they don't work. How do you get school kids in this community interested in getting a job when the alternative for them . . . is getting money for nothing."

 

Mr Collins said successive federal governments had failed to properly manage welfare payments in Aboriginal communities because of the high cost of deciding who should receive them.

 

Premier Mike Rann, who was in the AP Lands with Mr Collins yesterday, said police numbers would be significantly boosted.

 

"The women in these communities are crying out for help and support," he said.

 

"They have borne the brunt of violence against them, violence against their children."

 

Mr Collins, who has given himself six months to install measures to curb the region's health, drug and violence crisis, has met a stream of community leaders, workers and police on the Lands in the past two days.

 

"It has taken up to 10 or 12 hours for police to respond to murder or serious assaults – that's totally unacceptable," he said.

 

Mr Collins will present a series of recommendations to the Government tomorrow including temporary jail cells without hanging points and more police resources.

 

"If the first piece of advice I give the Government is rejected, I won't be staying around to provide the second piece of advice," he said. But Mr Rann was adamant the Government was prepared to act and said "in terms of resources, whatever Bob Collins wants, he gets".

 

Mr Collins, who is married to a Tiwi islander, said marijuana had exceeded alcohol and petrol sniffing as the most devastating substance on the Lands.

 

"The only change is, two years ago all the drug dealers were white. Now they're all black," he said.

 

"If you are a 16-year-old, and you make one trip and you make $4000 bucks in a day, you can understand why people do it."

 

By Political Reporter LEANNE CRAIG

Source: The Advertiser

[Tom]

Simple answer, make mj legal and they could have legitimate jobs doing something they seem to be experienced in. ::

 

[BULLET]

Simple answer, make mj legal and they could have legitimate jobs doing something they seem to be experienced in. ::

 

you make a lot of sense!

they could be in the vanguard of the hemp revolution as well. cloth, paper etc. jobs for the whole family