The Wire

The South Australian Government’s being accused of not providing a strong enough police presence in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Lands. The region encompasses over 100 000 square kilometres of land in the state’s far north-west corner and is home to more than 2 000 Aboriginal people, known in the local language as Anangu. For years the Anangu have struggled against the effects of drugs, alcohol and petrol sniffing. Anecdotal evidence says suicide and attempted suicides are also endemic in the area, but the Rann Government is refusing to release official figures. The South Australian Democrats say there’s a link between the high rate of suicide and the lack of police …and they want the government to do something about it. She says the government needs to release official data on suicides and suicide attempts recorded by the South Australian Police. But the SA Police Operations Coordinator Chief Superintendent Tom Osbourne says the data was never meant to be released to the public.