Ms ANDERSON - 2007-02-15
Yesterday, we heard the alarming statistics associated with alcohol--related harm in the Northern Territory. Can you update the House on the impact that the Alcohol Management Plan is having on Alice Springs?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I know that the member for Macdonnell is very concerned about the problem of alcohol and antisocial behaviour in Alice Springs, and the changes we have put in place and how they are making a difference to the problems that we have seen.
The Alcohol Management Plan came into force last October. T and there was public consultation for a number of months before that. I set up an alcohol task force that had oversight of those consultations. The task force was made up of two members of council, a member from the business community, and two members from the combined Aboriginal organisations. They were a good group and worked hard to make ensure good community consultation about that the Alcohol Management Plan, but were also going to tackle what is a very long-term problem for Alice Springs.
We have figures from the first three months of the Alcohol Management Plan being in place, and I can say there are some positives and negatives. The positives are that from October to December, we saw the consumption of pure alcohol go down by 11%. That is not a bad start for the first three months. Police are reporting that their protective custodies for the three months were down 50%. That is a great start. I make the point again that this is a start. Serious assaults were down as well.
Hospital reports of alcohol--related presentations are down and also the sobering--up shelter had fewer people attending. They are the positives. I would add that some areas of Alice Springs which have had a lot of antisocial behaviour reported quieter times.
The negative, the big one for Alice Springs, is the litter. What we have seen is a change in what is being drunk. It has gone from casks to cans and to bottles, and, even though they are lower in alcohol content, they are making more of a mess. We are working with council, and we have our low security prisoners putting much greater effort into cleaning- up. No one wants to put up with litter and the community is being very strong about saying that.
There are also, wWhen I say that some areas, shopping areas particularly, have had less antisocial behaviour, we have some in Alice Springs that are experiencing more. What we have to do is work out strategies. I will not name those areas, but they are well known, where we have antisocial behaviour happening for the first time. Again, we are working with police, working council aworking nd with the Aboriginal organisations to see how we can tackle those problems.
I think oOverall, Madam Speaker, the first three months have been heartening. I say to the community of Alice Springs: work with us. There is not going to be a change over night. The measures that we have seen to reduce supply …
Mrs Braham: Do you support a dry town?
Ms MARTIN: The efforts we are making to reduce supply, the work we have done with the retailers, the work we are doing with council is all a good start. Currently, there are consultations on the dry areas legislation and we have seen meetings over this week in Alice Springs about that. The Liquor Commission will hear that dry areas legislation application from council on 8 or and 9 March. We are making a very concerted effort. The entire community of Alice Springs wants alcohol tackled. the entire community of Alice Springs does, Aboriginal people in Alice Springs certainly are very loud in their voices that they want it tackled, too.
The work we are doing with town camps with the task force being overseen by Barry Chambers working together with the Alcohol Management Plan is a good start. Hopefully, we will have strong support from the community. It is not easy and it is not going to happen over night, butbut I think the first three months show that we are heading in the right direction.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I know that the member for Macdonnell is very concerned about the problem of alcohol and antisocial behaviour in Alice Springs, and the changes we have put in place and how they are making a difference to the problems that we have seen.
The Alcohol Management Plan came into force last October. T and there was public consultation for a number of months before that. I set up an alcohol task force that had oversight of those consultations. The task force was made up of two members of council, a member from the business community, and two members from the combined Aboriginal organisations. They were a good group and worked hard to make ensure good community consultation about that the Alcohol Management Plan, but were also going to tackle what is a very long-term problem for Alice Springs.
We have figures from the first three months of the Alcohol Management Plan being in place, and I can say there are some positives and negatives. The positives are that from October to December, we saw the consumption of pure alcohol go down by 11%. That is not a bad start for the first three months. Police are reporting that their protective custodies for the three months were down 50%. That is a great start. I make the point again that this is a start. Serious assaults were down as well.
Hospital reports of alcohol--related presentations are down and also the sobering--up shelter had fewer people attending. They are the positives. I would add that some areas of Alice Springs which have had a lot of antisocial behaviour reported quieter times.
The negative, the big one for Alice Springs, is the litter. What we have seen is a change in what is being drunk. It has gone from casks to cans and to bottles, and, even though they are lower in alcohol content, they are making more of a mess. We are working with council, and we have our low security prisoners putting much greater effort into cleaning- up. No one wants to put up with litter and the community is being very strong about saying that.
There are also, wWhen I say that some areas, shopping areas particularly, have had less antisocial behaviour, we have some in Alice Springs that are experiencing more. What we have to do is work out strategies. I will not name those areas, but they are well known, where we have antisocial behaviour happening for the first time. Again, we are working with police, working council aworking nd with the Aboriginal organisations to see how we can tackle those problems.
I think oOverall, Madam Speaker, the first three months have been heartening. I say to the community of Alice Springs: work with us. There is not going to be a change over night. The measures that we have seen to reduce supply …
Mrs Braham: Do you support a dry town?
Ms MARTIN: The efforts we are making to reduce supply, the work we have done with the retailers, the work we are doing with council is all a good start. Currently, there are consultations on the dry areas legislation and we have seen meetings over this week in Alice Springs about that. The Liquor Commission will hear that dry areas legislation application from council on 8 or and 9 March. We are making a very concerted effort. The entire community of Alice Springs wants alcohol tackled. the entire community of Alice Springs does, Aboriginal people in Alice Springs certainly are very loud in their voices that they want it tackled, too.
The work we are doing with town camps with the task force being overseen by Barry Chambers working together with the Alcohol Management Plan is a good start. Hopefully, we will have strong support from the community. It is not easy and it is not going to happen over night, butbut I think the first three months show that we are heading in the right direction.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016