Gunner Government will have BDR up and running in a year

TERRITORY Labor’s roll-out of the Banned Drinkers Register will be complete in a year and talks to return the power of deciding temporary beat locations are underway.

Government staff and technical experts are assessing the machines used to scan identification which were put in stor- age when the policy was scrapped by the Giles Government.

The 300 ID scanners were placed in bottleshops in Alice Springs, Katherine and Tennant Creek in a bid to stop problem drinkers accessing alcohol.

A government spokesman said a decision on whether additional scanning machines needed to be purchased would be made after the assessment.

“Once the technology assessment was complete, the Government would be in a position to determine what equipment is needed,” he said.

Attorney General Natasha Fyles said the Government would meet its election commitment to have the BDR operational in its first year.

“The Government has begun the work needed to implement the BDR including consulting with police and other stakeholders. We will fulfil our election commitment to have the BDR up and running in the first 12 months of our Government,” she said.

Shadow Attorney General Lia Finocchiaro said the BDR would have a detrimental ef- fect on alcohol-related assaults.

“In the 12 months to June 2016, alcohol-related assaults across the Northern Territory declined from 1109 to 1009 – a nine per cent reduction,” she said.

“These figures are still excessive and disturbing but showed the previous government’s policies including Temporary Beat Locations and Alcohol Mandatory Treatment were having an impact.”

Ms Finocchiaro said the BDR would have been acceptable had it actually stopped people purchasing alcohol.

“Instead of looking backwards in terms of alcohol policy, Labor should continue with the Country Liberals initiatives which have both deterrent and minimisation components because they have been shown to work.”

NT Police Association president Paul McCue said the BDR should be reinstated alongside a number of measures to control the sale of alcohol.

“Without question, the Northern Territory government should ensure that the roll-out of the BDR is a pri- ority. A time frame of within the first year of this government is simply too long a wait,” he said. “We need effective government policy and whole of community strategies, not the sole reliance on police to control the point of sale.

“That is not police work and responsibility should be put back on the licensees who profit from the sale of alcohol.”