Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

My question relates to the Rudd government’s commitment in relation to binge drinking. It arises out of a number of mobile offices that I have run, and in particular I have been doing the country shows in my electorate, which is about 90 per cent of the country area. Last Saturday we had the Ipswich Cup at Bundamba Racecourse, which I thought was an interesting experience. One of the topics that a number of people at the Ipswich Cup discussed with me was binge drinking, because sport is often associated with drinking. Interestingly enough, the Racecourse Hotel is not far away from the Bundamba Racecourse. Ipswich basketball stadium is also very close by and as a young fellow I played basketball there. A lot of my family were involved in the racing industry when I was younger, particularly greyhounds, and I also had friends who were race callers.

On Saturday at the Ipswich Cup a number of people were asking me about our $53.6 million commitment. A number of comments were made to me about peak sporting bodies such as the AFL and the NRL to the effect that we would like the money if at all possible to be coming down to the grassroots because binge drinking is often what happens on a Friday night, Saturday or Sunday around sporting events and is often associated with that sort of masculine culture. I was wondering to what extent that money is going to be contributed to community based groups and local sporting groups rather than to, say, the NRL or the AFL or any of the peak sporting bodies. We also want to know when that money could be rolled out and whether that money is going to go to, say, councils. I have been speaking to some of the local councils in my area, and particularly in Ipswich I have spoken to the Mayor, Paul Pisasale, about this. You only have to look at CCTV footage or drive around the streets of Ipswich at night to see that this binge drinking is a challenge. It is a real problem. As the father of teenage daughters who have other friends of that age going to parties, going to events, I can say that drinking seems to be a rite of passage for a lot of young people.

Minister, I do not know whether you saw the recent Four Corners program on the issue of binge drinking which was one of the most disturbingFour Corners programs I have ever seen—certainly more disturbing than the fact that the member for North Sydney did not understand Work Choices. I thought it was a particularly disturbing program that night, and certainly it was a real shock to a lot of parents to see young people, particularly young women, just sculling drinks. That is a real concern because, when they are inebriated, they are also more vulnerable to violence and sexual assault, domestic violence and other issues which are very serious matters. I say this because in my family we have experienced alcoholism and I am the son of an alcoholic, so I have experienced this all through my life. These issues are both personal as well as political for me.

I raise this issue not only because it was raised with me last Saturday at the Ipswich Cup as well as at the mobile office at Brassall shopping centre last Saturday morning but also because I have seen what binge drinking can do to families. I can see what it does to young people. To what extent will that money be rolled out to local community groups and local councils et cetera, rather than simply given to peak bodies such as the AFL and the NRL? The thinking from some of the people that I spoke to last Saturday was that advertising is all very well but it is the grassroots, the personal touch, that is most important—having a mate, a mentor, who can get beside you saying: ‘Look, just have a couple of beers but don’t not drink too much. Just have a few drinks but don’t go too far.’ My question is: to what extent are we going to push that?

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