Liquor watchers drunk on power
IT’S no secret that the Territory has a problem with booze.
Menzies School of Health Research estimated the collective cost to the Territory of our drinking problem at $1.3 billion each and every year.
It’s a staggering figure and one used to justify the sweeping changes to our liquor laws being progressively rolled out across the Territory.
Some changes — such as the introduction of a more robust liquor licensing system closer in line with those which exist in other states — make sense.
But plenty of others go far beyond what is reasonable and should concern all Territorians who care even a little about protecting their privacy from an overreaching government which can’t resist poking its nose into our business and our liquor cabinets.
Already, Territorians have to agree to hand over their details through the Banned Drinker Register every time they want to buy a takeaway beer. The Government says the system doesn’t collect any of the data — if your scan comes back clean, it claims nothing is retained. While that’s probably true, it isn’t much of a stretch to imagine a time in the near future when that isn’t the case.
In some parts of the Territory, it’s already beginning.
Within weeks, staff at Alice Springs bottlos will be required to report any “suspicious” purchases of booze to police.
Customers who buy more than three cartons of fullstrength beer will have their personal details passed on without their knowledge.
At this stage there’s no information as to how that information will be used. Can you expect a knock on the door and a please explain from police if you dare to buy your booze in bulk?
It is, as Alice Springs MLA Robyn Lambley put it in parliament last week “Orwellian”.
“Underlying this bill is the premise that we cannot make good choices. We are all drunks,” Ms Lambley said.
“We are all hideously out of control, we cannot take personal responsibility for our own behaviour and we have to be told when and how to behave, and that the government needs to tell us basically how to do that.
“We all accept that there have to be regulations and legislation in place that steer us in the right direction that try and curb this terrible problem that we face, but legislating to the point like we see in this bill is hideous; it is offensive.”
Territorians have been