PAUL McCUE: It’s time we asked ourselves a few sobering questions about the supply of alcohol

DOMESTIC and family violence (DFV) is a sad truth in the Territory. That’s no secret. And it should be no secret that the solution must come from the whole community, and that it’s time to lay the cards on the table and work together.

The fact is, more often than not, a DFV offender is drunk. Statistics point the finger to an overwhelming percentage of DFV incidents that involve alcohol.

Grog is often the golden thread that ties together call out after call out for our police, across the whole Territory, both remotely and in major centres.

But as some of the community look to police as the sole solution to control alcohol supply, perhaps it’s about time we look to the source as well.

I’m talking about the people who profit from the sale of the takeaway liquor, the people who legislate and those other agencies who are employed – by the public purse – to ensure that the takeaway alcohol outlets are following the letter of the law.

Perhaps it is time we ask ourselves, as a community, a few hard, sobering questions.

We love the Territory we live in; it is the greatest part of our country.

But it is also the part of Australia with four times the national average of DFV, and is one of the largest consumers of alcohol per capita in the world. Coincidence? I think not. Where is our sense of community responsibility?

For several years, police officers; highly trained, pro- fessional, qualified police, have been stationed outside bottle shops in Tennant Creek, Katherine and Alice Springs.

These same police officers are doing the work of a security guard.

They’re managing the point of sale in lieu of effective government alcohol initiatives and they are, in some respects, stemming the flow of alcohol into their towns.

Working as a pseudo security guard means that the Territory’s cops aren’t able to respond to your call as quickly as they’d like when your house is broken in to, when your car is being rocked or when your small business’ front window has been smashed, time and time again.

But I also accept, the temporary measure of having police officers at bottle shops has demonstrated that controlling the supply of alcohol can reduce harm. It also demonstrates that if you decrease the supply or levels of access, people can’t get the grog they want. But why does this control fall to the job description of our police and only to them? It is not a long-term sustainable solution to alcohol-related crime, including DFV.

Conclusions will undoubtedly be drawn to a spike in DFV related matters this week in Alice Springs when police had to be utilised in other core policing duties (away from bottleshops) for a short time. But don’t dare blame the Police for this, as a community, smarter conclusions must be drawn.

Remember, these already stretched police resources are seemingly the best (and only) answer we have to alcohol sales control.

It’s time for a holistic, whole of government and community approach that makes the tough calls, not the politically popular ones. The Northern Territory needs action and strategies and we need them now. The Banned Drinkers Register should be prioritised for towns such as Alice Springs, and utilised in conjunction with a suite of options that aim at reducing the alarming DFV rate.

If we, as the public, are inconvenienced to a small degree, so be it. It shouldn’t be easy to access alcohol. Let’s make it tougher, but fair.

Paul McCue is the President of the Northern Territory Police Association