Hey Hypocrite-The bro, Kirsten had been fighting for the rights of Singaporeans and also advocating for Singaporeans to be educated on death penalty. In addition, she is advocating for the family members of those being executed and the pain they will go through. Ong Vui Kong was also her success story. She put in so much effort to get him from the death roll, she is the only hero in that story. I really look up to her.
Oh yes. Please offer more help to drug dealers and peddlers. I hope you and your wife get robbed and raped and stabbed by these druggies. Than u will get your just retribution.
Dubbo residents fight for 'desperately needed' drug rehabilitation centre
BY GAVIN COOTE AND PHILIPPA MCDONALD
UPDATED ABOUT 3 HOURS AGO
Email Facebook Twitter WhatsApp
A man wearing a St George Illawarra jersey and cap sits with arms crossed.
PHOTO Reggie Carroll lost one son to a drug overdose and was stabbed by another.
ABC NEWS: JESSIE DAVIES
Having battled arthritis, back problems and substance addiction, Reggie Carroll has been through the school of hard knocks — but nothing prepared him for being stabbed by his ice-addicted son.
Key points:
Critics argue more money should be spent on health initiatives and less on policing the drug problem
The federal government has announced $3 million for a rehabilitation centre in Dubbo
But locals are calling on the state government to pick up a $4.5 million shortfall
Drugs have almost destroyed the Dubbo man's family — he buried his brother and another son after both died of drug overdoses — and is now trying to get help for two of his remaining sons in the grip of ice addiction.
And it's a difficult task given ice is so readily available in the central-western NSW city.
"You see ice everywhere here in Dubbo — I've even walked around and picked up bags [of it] on the street," he said.
Mr Carroll said it's been hard to be near his sons due to their aggression while on the drug and his biggest fear is a repeat of the violent stabbing inflicted on him on Father's Day last year.
"It's hard to see them destroy themselves and not able to help themselves … I don't know what to do at times."
The drug crisis in Dubbo and other regional centres — and its effect on law and order — looms as an issue in the federal election on May 18.
It's an issue that almost derailed the Nationals in the recent NSW election, with the party narrowly holding onto the seat of Dubbo, despite a 18.4 swing against the party.
Time will tell whether the Nationals will suffer the same fate in the federal seat of Parkes, which it safely holds with a margin of 15.1 per cent.
A woman sits at a table with framed photographs of a young children and teens.
PHOTO Irene May said it is common in Dubbo for grandparents to care for grandchildren.
SUPPLIED: BOBBY MAY
But what is clear is that the drug problem has become such a burden that locals want action now — in the form of a drug rehabilitation centre in the heart of Dubbo.
Irene May is convinced that her grandson Corey would still be alive if he'd had access to such a facility.
A man wearing a baseball cap puts his arm around a toddler
PHOTO Corey May died by suicide just shy of his 21st birthday.
SUPPLIED: IRENE MAY
He died by suicide seven years ago, just shy of his 21st birthday, after battling drug addiction and stints in jail.
Five other family members have also experienced addiction and Ms May is now caring for one of their young children.
She said it was not unusual for grandparents to step in when their own children were unable to care for their offspring due to addiction.
"These kids need help, they really need help," she said.
"Without the grandparents being there to protect the grandkids, [child protection services] would have them."
A 'merry-go-round of stupidity'
With just three weeks until the federal election, Aboriginal health worker Trevor 'Jimmy' Forrest said locals had one message for politicians: "build a rehab here in Dubbo".
Methamphetamine use in the city has risen 66 per cent in the past two years, compared with the NSW average of 9.7 per cent.
In the same period, domestic-violence related offences in Dubbo jumped 64.5 per cent — almost three times the state average.
Mr Forrest refers local men to other drug and alcohol services — the closest being 150 kilometres away in Orange — and said people as young as 14 were using ice.
"[We] just can't get them into rehabs, it's just so hard — they're always full," Mr Forrest said.
"Sometimes they have to travel up to 600 kilometres, they're then off country and they're always lost."
As the gateway to the western region and with a population of about 50,000, it was unacceptable that Dubbo did not have a dedicated local rehabilitation centre, Mr Forrest said.
But change could be on its way.
Two men sit at a table
PHOTO Health worker Trevor 'Jimmy' Forrest (L) has been supporting Reggie Carroll (R).
ABC NEWS: JESSIE DAVIES
In what some locals have dubbed as a sign politicians are listening, just days after the NSW election, the federal government announced $3 million over two years for a rehabilitation centre.
The funding will go towards developing a 15-bed rehabilitation facility and eight-bed detox unit, with Dubbo Regional Council agreeing to provide land.
But with $5 million overall required for the facility's construction, along with $2.5 million annually for operational costs, many suggest it's now up to the State Government to make it a reality.
The NSW Government has said it would consider recommendations by a recent parliamentary inquiry that a drug court be established in Dubbo, along with extra rehabilitation services.
The Government's fledgling Special Commission of Inquiry into the Drug Ice is also expected to hold a hearing in Dubbo soon, but the city's mayor Ben Shields said action — not more inquiries — was needed.
"It's an absolute merry-go-round of stupidity going on," Cr Shields said.
"I don't know how many more inquiries you need to do to work out that the drug ice — in fact a lot of the illegal narcotics — are bad for you and is causing a breakdown within society."
'Two systems of justice at work'
Bill Dickens from Legal Aid NSW said the justice system was "flawed and imbalanced", with money continuing to go toward policing initiatives and prison expansion, rather than health initiatives.
"Really, if you look across New South Wales there's two systems of justice at work here," Mr Dickens said.
"There's one for people in regional and remote communities, and there's another for people who happen to live on the other side of the sandstone curtain.
"This needs to be treated as a health issue, and if it's treated as a health issue then we might begin to get some different results."
But NSW Police acting western region commander Greg Moore denied this was the case, pointing to the success of the justice reinvestment model in Bourke, further west.
The bold experiment, which concentrates resources into early intervention and targeted diversionary programs, only last month secured $1.8 million from the federal and NSW governments.
Superintendent Moore said there was every chance the model could be used in Dubbo.
A spokeswoman for the Western NSW Local Health District said the government provided a "wide range" of drug and alcohol services, including specialist counselling and an opiod treatment program.
But for Irene May and Reggie Carroll, nothing short of a dedicated rehabilitation centre will improve the city's addiction problems.
They only wish their loved ones had survived long enough to see it.
POSTED ABOUT 3 HOURS AGO
SHAREEmail Facebook Twitter WhatsApp
Top Stories
World's biggest dark net market shuts as rumours swirl about what's next
If you vote early, it may cost you more than an election sausage
He's lost one son to overdose, was stabbed by another on ice. Now Reggie fights for change
Sports car erupts into flames at Sydney petrol station
Banks on shaky ground hit by inquiry costs, flat revenues and demands for high dividends
Folbigg to give her version of what diary entries about her dead children meant
These photos undid a top WWII Nazi. So how did they end up in Australia?
Paraglider found dead after crashing into cliff and falling 170m
'OK I'm taking you out of the show': What happens when audience interaction goes wrong
California synagogue shooting leaves one dead, three injured
'Vegandale Sucks': When vegans moved in, Parkdale residents got angry
Analysis: No-one can say we haven't seen this moment coming, but the West must act
World's second-largest diamond discovered in Botswana
Child dies after being hit by L-plate driver in Brisbane
'Everest of shearing' conquered as 16yo world record clipped
Anti-Adani convoy get frosty welcome from Queensland coal mining town
Analysis: The 'watergate scandal' is still as clear as m&d in a drought
Facebook's uphill battle to safeguard the election from sock puppets and bad actors
Headspace is 'easy for politicians', but failing Australia's youth, experts say
Cameras prove too 'intimidating' for python feasting on tawny frogmouth
Opinion: Ladies, here's your guide to winning a seat in Parliament like a man
Labor pledges multi-billion-dollar overhaul of childcare subsidies
'We make decisions about who comes here': Morrison channels Howard in refugee pledge
Perfect 10 propels Courtney Conlogue to Bells Beach title
MORE FROM ABC NEWS
HomeJust InAustralia VotesWorldAnalysis & OpinionBusinessSportScienceHealthArtsLive StreamsVideoPhotosEntertainmentSubscribeRuralOther Topics
Top of page
Change to standard view
ABC NewsJust InWorldBusinessHealthEntertainmentSportAnalysis & OpinionWeatherTopicsArchiveCorrections & Clarifications
Terms of UsePrivacy PolicyAccessibilityContact the ABC© 2019 ABC
