PETROL BAN CUTS CRIME IN ARNHEM LAND

The Oenpelli community in Arnhem Land says juvenile crime has dropped
dramatically because of a ban on petrol sales during the wet season.

The community voluntarily stopped using and selling petrol, cutting the
supply to sniffers.

The Gunbalanya Council's Colin Tidswell says traditionally the wet season is
the worst time for petrol sniffing because flooding cuts the roads and there
is little to do.

He says before the ban, some businesses were being broken into every night.

"The businesses were getting very tired of being broken into as well, the
damages that were associated with that and certainly the social cost to the
kids in the community," he said.

"All the businesses are saying to me now, the businesses and organisations
in Gunbulanya, and they're saying they won't stock fuel again, unleaded
fuel, that they're going to continue to voluntarily use Avgas."