Trish Crossin (NT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to provide some comments in relation to the Northern Territory National Emergency Response Amendment (Alcohol) Bill 2007. I am not sure if we are seeing the first cracks in the Northern Territory National Emergency Response Act, which we dealt with about four or five weeks ago, but I do think we are seeing the result of a lack of consultation with the Northern Territory government and a lack of willingness by the Australian government not only to inform the Northern Territory government about what it is doing but also to consult with the Northern Territory and form a genuine working relationship and partnership in relation to this matter.

This bill changes the 1,350 millilitre trigger for seeking and recording details in relation to takeaway alcohol. These details will now be recorded for purchases of over $100 or five litres of wine in casks or containers of over two litres. The bill makes changes to clarify the storage or records of takeaway purchases so that they can be stored at the direction of the Northern Territory Licensing Commission—the implication being that the commission can regularly collect and store the records on the licensees’ behalf. That is yet to be determined and the implications of that are yet to be seen, I would have thought.

The bill also provides certain exceptions to the alcohol offences for tourism operations in parks, and other areas if declared, it being a defence if a person is engaged in recreational activities in a park if the activities have been organised by a person in the tourism business and are consistent with any park management plan and the person is behaving in a responsible manner. It provides for the alcohol measures to be determined not to apply in a particular area if warranted—for example, where comprehensive and effective alcohol management measures are implemented—and makes clear that no past or future Northern Territory legislation undermines the emergency response alcohol measures.

We know that alcohol is a factor in a very high number of welfare and criminal justice interventions in Aboriginal families. It is well known that it is associated with the incapacity to care for children and it can lead to violence, lack of money for food and other essentials, stealing, poor health and many other problems. The Little children are sacred report recognised that, alcohol having been identified as such a critical problem for some time, many programs have already been tried and implemented—and many programs, such as the Northern Territory government’s alcohol framework, which are aimed at supply, harm and demand reductions, are continuing and, in fact, on a region by region basis, are having some success.

I think it should be widely noted that these proposals are not new; nor are they comprehensive. Although the Labor Party has now determined that it will support the bill, on my first reading of this bill I found the proposals illogical and inconsistent. Because the government has done this without extensive consultation and without thought about its implications, I do not believe that this legislation will reach the areas or the people it is targeted at. I think it will create an enormous backlash throughout the wider community in the Northern Territory. Senator Scullion, you know the Territory like I do—and better than anyone else in this place—and you would know that this legislation will cause many problems, mainly in the regional centres.