Mr HIGGINS - 2014-03-20
As the Chief Minister has already alluded to, yesterday the ABC Fact Check team confirmed the Banned Drinker Register had no effect on the long-term trend of increases in alcohol-related presentations to Territory hospitals. Can you please outline for the House how the ABC has determined when it comes to telling the truth, Labor cannot be trusted.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Daly for his question. Unlike the former Labor government, now opposition, we are looking at real strategies to address the serious alcohol problem across the Northern Territory. By a matter of coincidence, not instigated by us in any way, the ABC Fact Check team did their own independent analysis of the figures we gave them a few weeks ago, that we made public, pertaining to all alcohol-related presentations to our emergency departments across the Northern Territory.
We have provided the people of the Northern Territory 10 years of data; it is publicly available. The ABC Fact Check team has picked up on this. These figures are quite unique across Australia. I am told by the Department of Health that nowhere in Australia can you obtain the level of data we have provided to the public in this respect. They picked up on this and found that the Banned Drinker Register had made no impact on reducing alcohol-related presentations to our emergency departments across the Northern Territory. This is what they said, and I quote from the ABC Fact Check investigation:
There was no impact when the Banned Drinker Register was implemented and no impact when it was dropped because it was a failure. It was a register of drunks, people who had an alcohol problem. It did not stop people from accessing alcohol. I further quote from the ABC Fact Check investigation:
A similar report from Jason Ferris from the Institute for Social Science Research at the University of Queensland, who was also consulted by the ABC, said:
We, on this side of the Chamber, rest our case. The Banned Drinker Register had no effect on hospital emergency department admissions related to alcohol. It was a failure, it was a flop. Let us cease talking about this failed Banned Drinker Register.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Daly for his question. Unlike the former Labor government, now opposition, we are looking at real strategies to address the serious alcohol problem across the Northern Territory. By a matter of coincidence, not instigated by us in any way, the ABC Fact Check team did their own independent analysis of the figures we gave them a few weeks ago, that we made public, pertaining to all alcohol-related presentations to our emergency departments across the Northern Territory.
We have provided the people of the Northern Territory 10 years of data; it is publicly available. The ABC Fact Check team has picked up on this. These figures are quite unique across Australia. I am told by the Department of Health that nowhere in Australia can you obtain the level of data we have provided to the public in this respect. They picked up on this and found that the Banned Drinker Register had made no impact on reducing alcohol-related presentations to our emergency departments across the Northern Territory. This is what they said, and I quote from the ABC Fact Check investigation:
- … alcohol-related emergency department admissions in Northern Territory hospitals … did not decrease while the register was in place and the upward spike began before it was removed.
There was no impact when the Banned Drinker Register was implemented and no impact when it was dropped because it was a failure. It was a register of drunks, people who had an alcohol problem. It did not stop people from accessing alcohol. I further quote from the ABC Fact Check investigation:
- There is no obvious reduction in admissions following the introduction of the banned drinker register.
A similar report from Jason Ferris from the Institute for Social Science Research at the University of Queensland, who was also consulted by the ABC, said:
- … the introduction of the register "doesn't appear to have had an observable early effect on the admission data". While it was in place, the trend turned significantly upwards …
We, on this side of the Chamber, rest our case. The Banned Drinker Register had no effect on hospital emergency department admissions related to alcohol. It was a failure, it was a flop. Let us cease talking about this failed Banned Drinker Register.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016