Nicola Roxon (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for the question. I know that the member for Chisholm, along with many others on this side of the House—and having listened to many of the first speeches by those opposite I must say they are also concerned—are worried about young people and the trends of binge drinking; we have watched it increase. The Prime Minister has already taken the House through the initiatives that were announced yesterday and I think it is important that we spend a little bit of extra time on the impact that binge drinking can have on young people. We are not just talking about young adults here. We are talking about children in some instances—people aged between 12 and 17—and reports that one in 10 in this age group are regularly binge drinking. Hundreds of thousands of children, adolescents and young adults are repeatedly causing damage to their own bodies and to their future health, as well as quite a lot of worry and cost within the community.

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