Call for end to alcohol bans

INDIGENOUS community mayors across the Far North are calling for alcohol bans to be scrapped and the criminal records of those caught sly grogging to be deleted.

The Local Government Association of Queensland mooted the controversial changes in their Advocacy Action Plan after meeting with mayors and councillors at the indigenous Leaders’ Forum.

The AMPs came into force in 2002, and 12 of the 15 areas where they are imposed are within the Far North and Gulf areas.

Brad Wilson, the Mayor of Mornington Island, 670km west of Cairns, said the AMPs had been successful in reducing violence in the communities, but they needed review.

He said strategies implemented by the local justice group had been successful and they wanted the chance to show they could be self-reliant.

“We’ve been ready for a while, we’ve had all these programs and procedures in place and now it’s up to the Government to come and look at what we have,” he said.

He said it was also vital each community was evaluated individually rather than just being “put all under one blanket”.

Aurukun Mayor Dereck Walpo said sly groggers con- tinued to take advantage of their community, sneaking alcohol in and selling it at wildly inflated prices “to make a quick buck”.

“We’ve got to find ways to slow the sly grogging,” he said.

“It is frustrating and sad that people with no conscience come in and take money.

“We need to find a way to practice safe drinking.”

LGAQ chief executive Greg Hallam said the AMPs needed review as the affected mayors and councillors considered them discriminatory.

“Any strategy to address alcohol-related violence should be reviewed every four or five years to ensure they are addressing contemporary issues,” he said.

“It is behaviour that is perfectly legitimate in every other Queensland community.”

He said their initial success in curbing violence had been clear, but issues with other substances had arisen in that time.

“We believe illicit drugs in all communities, including indigenous communities, is a serious issue that needs to be acted upon,” he said.

A spokesman for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships Minister Curtis Pitt said the government was consulting with indigenous communities about the review, which was likely to finish within 12 months.