Daily London
School leavers planning to celebrate overseas have been urged to take extra care after recent high-profile methanol poisonings in south-east Asia.
Six people in total died after drinking tainted alcohol at a hostel in Laos in November last year.
“It’s very raw, very upsetting, but we’ve got to do this for the greater good,” Jones said.
The campaign is being conducted by DrinkWise and Smart Traveller, and will see multiple public information efforts come into effect.
DrinkWise said it would team up with Smartraveller on the key schoolies travel date of November 29 to have people at international airport terminals in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane to pass on safety advice to ex-students.
The campaign will see targeted advertisements and messages sent to the phones of teenagers as soon as they set foot in Australian airports, with in-flight video messages also to be played on international Jetstar flights.
“DrinkWise research shows school-leavers are making safer choices at schoolies, but timely reminders remain critical,” DrinkWise chief executive Simon Strahan said.
“This is real, issues like methanol poisoning are real.”
Morton said she urged parents to have conversations about the safe consumption of alcohol with their children before they go on schoolies trips abroad.
“Be aware of the dangers, have a plan, talk to your children, make sure they do know what to do when they do get sick, it’s only going to help save lives,” she said.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she is still seeking answers from Laotian authorities as to why no one has been charged over last year’s tragic poisoning.
She said she has reached out to representatives from Laos 50 times, but is yet to receive a response.
“We continue to offer AFP assistance, we’ve reiterated that offering including yesterday,” Wong said.
