23 Grog’s ‘true’ cost
IN the words of former Chief Minister Adam Giles, alcohol “is our lifestyle, this is the way we live”. According to Mr Giles, drinking alcohol is a “core social value” in the NT.
We proudly celebrate our love of alcohol and that we can hold our drink.
The statistics confirm it — people in the NT drink the most alcohol in Australia. Non-Aboriginal Territorians drink 1.43 times more that the rest of the country and Aboriginal Territorians drink at 1.97 times the national average.
For every two drinks had in the rest of the country, nonAboriginal Territorians have around three drinks, and Aboriginal Territorians around four.
Alcohol-related harm is not a minority problem. The statistics tell us that around half the NT population drink dangerously. That’s every second person in the NT drinking at home, at your local pub, restaurant or watching the sunset.
We are making ourselves sick: More than 9000 people end up in our hospital emergency departments for alcohol-related issues each year.
We are killing ourselves: Non-Aboriginal Territorians are twice as likely to die due to alcohol compared to the rest of the country, for Aboriginal Territorians it’s 9-10 times higher than the average.
We are violent to each other: More than 50 per cent of assaults involve someone under the influence of alcohol.
We are harming our children: 5 per cent of mothers drink during pregnancy which can lead to babies born with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.
We all pay for it: Alcohol costs the NT about $642m a year across our policing, health and justice systems — $4197 for every adult Territorian, over four times more than alcohol costs our southern neighbours.
Implementing the Riley Review recommendations gives the NT the best chance to reduce the harm and cost that alcohol has on us — and show the rest of the country that we can still have a drink and reduce the cost and harms of our Territory (and national) obsession with alcohol.
We need to implement all the Riley Review recommendations. One recommendation on its own cannot address the depth of alcohol harm in the NT.
We commend the Government for reintroducing the BDR, placing Police Auxiliary Liquor Inspectors in bottle shops, introducing a minimum floor price, funding underage drinking programs, putting a moratorium on takeaway licences and reinstating the independent Liquor Commission to make public interest decisions on licensing.
The public have a right to understand what the experts say will work to reduce the harms and costs of risky drinking in the NT.
Alcohol experts and the community service sector have called for an alcohol floor price for years.
The floor price sets a minimum price for safe consumption based on the percentage of alcohol in a drink. It discourages risky drinking of the cheapest alcohol by making it more expensive.
People who drink a lot usually buy the cheapest alcohol. The floor price does not prevent people from drinking, it makes it more expensive to drink a lot of cheap alcohol.
The floor price is proven to work in the NT. It was successfully trialled in 1995 across the Territory and in 2006 under the Alice Springs Liquor Supply Plan.
In both cases, we reduced the amount of alcohol we drank and we reduced alcoholrelated harm. The floor price meant we paid less in social harms during those trials than we pay now.
The full impact of Riley Review recommendations will take time. Monitoring reports expected to be released early next year, and at this time next year will give indications of early, positive impacts — and where we need to adjust things.
The evaluation in 2020 will show the impact of the changes we are making now.
The Alcohol Mandatory Treatment (AMT) program was a failed and discriminatory policy. Bringing it back in is a waste of taxpayer money.
Locking people up because they drink too much does not reduce their harmful drinking habits.
The AMT was reviewed in 2017. It found that many of the people ordered into AMT were frequently re-admitted once released — it didn’t stop people drinking, and it didn’t stop people from harming themselves or others while drinking. It didn’t help people get a job or address their physical and mental health needs.
We encourage the NT Government to continue their evidence-based reform agenda.
We strongly condemn the Opposition, Independents Robyn Lambley and Terry Mills and the Darwin Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis for opposing NT alcohol reforms.
We encourage Mrs Lambley, Mr Mills, Lord Mayor Vatskalis and the CLP to look again at the evidence — it is short sighted to dismiss the Riley Review reforms before they have any opportunity to make a difference.
Our families, homes and communities could be safer and healthier with bipartisan support for the Government’s evidence-based approach to alcohol policy.