Smoking rates among First Nations peoples are five times higher than the rest of Australia, contributing to the community's poor health. There's also a lack of culturally sensitive programs to help those wanting to kick the habit. In Tjuntjuntjara, in WA’s Great Victoria Desert, there's almost no support available.
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00:00It's been a long time since Michael Stevens had a cigarette.
00:07I don't smoke. I usually smoke, but I don't smoke no more.
00:12But across his desert community, smoking is a big problem.
00:16If they buy smoke, they buy little food like pie, cold drink, you know.
00:22That's not going to last them for weeks.
00:25Around 9% of Australians are regular smokers.
00:28In remote First Nations communities, that jumps to 46%.
00:33But in Junjunjarra, rates are higher.
00:36It'd be over 70% of people smoke in Junjunjarra.
00:40Smoking is the cause of more than a third of all First Nations deaths.
00:44Cigarettes and tobacco are really expensive all over Australia.
00:48But in remote communities, those costs are especially high.
00:52Here in Junjunjarra, a pouch of tobacco will set you back $114.
00:56And 20 cigarettes cost $56.
01:00That's more than 45% higher than in most supermarkets.
01:04Smoke costs 100 and something acre.
01:10Taxes designed to deter smoking are part of it.
01:13But locals say freight costs increase those prices significantly.
01:18People spend nine times the amount on tobacco and cigarettes than they do on fresh fruit and vegetables.
01:24But there's almost zero support for people wanting to quit.
01:28There are no services out there.
01:30There's no programs to help people actually give up.
01:32Bigger Gun Baringu Health Services received $1.7 million of federal funding to run the Tackling Indigenous Smoking Program in the gold fields.
01:42Junjunjarra residents would like to see a much greater focus on their region.
01:47We've got no visiting psychiatrists to make diagnoses.
01:51We've got no visiting mental health nurses to support us with our day-to-day maintenance of these people.
01:57Once elected, the coalition says it'll invest in outcomes-based health services for Indigenous Australians.
02:03The Labor Government plans to expand the Tackling Indigenous Smoking Program and believes higher taxes motivates people to quit.
02:12While it works for some, people in this community need more targeted support to help people make a life-saving choice.