Alcohol: the root of all evil?
![liquor.](https://images.thewest.com.au/publication/YA-100684/b88104471z.1_20160311131134_000_g11fso7d.2_1-1be4l8c.jpg?imwidth=810&impolicy=wan_v3)
It’s enjoyed in cities and towns throughout Australia but some indigenous people say alcohol is the root of all evil.
Kurri, alcohol, was behind the tragic passing of Nyamal-Nyangumarta man Phillip Wright’s son.
At just 26-years-old, Mr Wright’s son was killed in a cruel twist of fate when in the pitch black of night, as he lay in the middle of the road, a 41-year-old driver hit him.
The driver stopped immediately to render help.
But it was too late.
His son was pronounced dead in the early hours of April 26 last year.
What made Phillip’s son’s passing all the more difficult to swallow, was that he was under the influence of alcohol before making the fatal decision, for whatever reason, to lie in the middle of the road.
“At the moment, I’m not satisfied,” Mr Wright said. “I’m not satisfied in what happened to him because (there’s) a lot of unanswered questions.”
As the one-year anniversary of his son’s passing approached, Mr Wright described his son as a good boy, who worked in the local indigenous communities.
However for him, it’s the dangers of alcohol that are a major concern and one that needs to be addressed right now.
“Alcohol is the main problem,” Mr Wright said. “What we’re trying to do is get the main problem out for all people, not just one group of people.”
Speaking at an open discussion at Wangka Maya recently, Hedland-woman Chrissie Black said a lot of young aboriginal people were dying through their use and abuse of alcohol and drugs.
Not only that, Ms Black said alcohol was having profound effects in areas such as domestic violence, family break down and incarcerations.
“Look at the per cent of our young men in prison,” she said. “The young men that go to prison, what’s there for them when they get out? Our young men are our providers.”
In discussions about solutions to alcohol-related issues, South Hedland Police Senior Sergeant Dean Snashall urged Mr Wright to attend future liquor accord meetings as a representative.
Sen. Sgt Snashall said while some people may believe chronic alcoholism was only an aboriginal problem because it was such a visual problem in places like South Hedland, he said it was a problem affecting the whole Hedland community.
“If there was no alcohol here, I wouldn’t have a job,” he said. “Alcohol is 80-90 per cent of our work.”
And it’s an outcome Mr Wright and those gathering weekly at Wangka Maya want to make a reality.
For Mr Wright, while considered extreme by others including Sen. Sgt Snashall, he believes Hedland should be a dry community.
While he knows it’s a hard sell, Mr Wright said it wasn’t about fixing the people, but about fixing the problem.
Others solutions discussed in initial talks included issuing a basics card similar to that used in the Northern Territory as well as providing more full-time jobs to indigenous people to encourage better lifestyles.
For Mr Wright, this crusade isn’t about his son’s passing, or his own story but rather about the future of a community he cares very much about.
“We want to fix the problem here that’s affecting our community (and) we know it’s not going to be a quick fix.”
“Man is destroying himself.”
Phillip Wright is calling on people young and old, organisations and the representatives from the Town of Port Hedland to join an open discussion at Wangka Maya on Thursday March 10 and 17 from 2.30pm.
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