Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I note the ALP’s comment about wanting something that goes beyond the Northern Territory. I, also, would welcome measures that address the issue of alcohol consumption and overconsumption in the wider Australian community. I look forward to hearing the ALP’s views on how that could be done, but I feel that—given the debate that we have been having on the need for some urgent action in the Northern Territory, and given that we are considering a bill that deals specifically with the Northern Territory and the issues of alcohol abuse and overconsumption—we should be using every mechanism that we can to deliver the outcomes that we are looking for.

As we have just been discussing, and as the minister just acknowledged, price is the best mechanism. We should be looking at these mechanisms now so that we can put a comprehensive package in place, because half-measures do not work. That is why the Greens want to see this now rather than in the future. I appreciate the fact that there is a feasibility study being undertaken and I appreciate the fact that you are going to provide more information to us but I hope that it has a short time frame rather than a long one. I hope that the government—of whichever persuasion—which is making these decisions will act quickly on the recommendations of the working group on the feasibility study.

Question negatived.

I move Greens amendment (2) from sheet 5382 revised:

(2)    Schedule 1, item 8, page 7 (after line 4), after section 20, insert:

20A  Sales of liquor for consumption away from licensed premises on certain days

        (1)    The Liquor Act has effect as if it included the following provisions of this section.

        (2)    A licensee of licensed premises commits an offence if:

             (a)    the licensee sells to a person (the purchaser) a quantity of liquor at any time on a Thursday or on a Sunday; and

             (b)    the licensee knows that the liquor is for consumption away from the licensed premises or is reckless as to whether it is for consumption away from the licensed premises.

Maximum penalty: 340 penalty units.

        (3)    An employee of a licensee of licensed premises commits an offence if:

             (a)    the employee sells to a person (the purchaser) a quantity of liquor at any time on a Thursday or on a Sunday; and

             (b)    the employee knows that the liquor is for consumption away from the licensed premises or is reckless as to whether it is for consumption away from the licensed premises.

Maximum penalty: 60 penalty units.

        (4)    A licensee of licensed premises commits an offence if:

             (a)    an employee of the licensee sells to a person (the purchaser) a quantity of liquor at any time on a Thursday or on a Sunday; and

             (b)    the employee knows that the liquor is for consumption away from the licensed premises or is reckless as to whether it is for consumption away from the licensed premises.

Maximum penalty: 170 penalty units.

        (5)    It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence under subsection (4) if the licensee proves that the licensee took all reasonable steps to ensure that the employee was aware of obligations of employees under this section.

20B  Sales of certain amount of liquor for consumption away from licensed premises

        (1)    The Liquor Act has effect as if it included the following provisions of this section.

        (2)    A licensee of licensed premises must report to the officer in charge of the nearest police station:

             (a)    any single purchase of a quantity of liquor that has a purchase price of $200 or more including GST;

             (b)    any single purchase of a quantity of wine that exceeds 10 litres and is in a single container or is in 5 or more containers of at least 2 litres each; or

             (c)    if the licensee has reason to believe that the purchaser of any amount of liquor intends to supply the liquor to a prohibited community.

        (3)    An employee of a licensee of licensed premises must report to the licensee:

             (a)    any single purchase of a quantity of liquor that has a purchase price of $200 or more including GST;

             (b)    any single purchase of a quantity of wine that exceeds 10 litres and is in a single container or is in 5 or more containers of at least 2 litres each; or

             (c)    if the licensee has reason to believe that the purchaser of any amount of liquor intends to supply the liquor to a prohibited community.

        (4)    A licensee commits an offence if they do not comply with subsection (3).

Maximum penalty: 340 penalty units.

        (5)    An employee commits an offence if they do not comply with subsection (4).

Maximum penalty: 60 penalty units.

This amendment relates to further controls on the sale of liquor. As I articulated in my speech during the second reading debate, after price the next mechanism that you can use to reduce supply is to reduce the total number of trading hours during which you can buy takeaway. The first clause of this amendment seeks to put restrictions on the days on which you can buy takeaway.

This mechanism has been used in the Northern Territory before, on what is commonly known as ‘thirsty Thursday’. It has been shown to be successful. I acknowledge that the government would need to move back to having Centrelink payments on one day but I think that is a fairly simple administrative arrangement.

This has worked in the past. I have spoken to experts and community members about these amendments—admittedly it has been very rushed, because these amendments have been rushed—and they have said that it would be a good idea to have a second day, and that Sunday would perhaps be a good day. So we thought it would be good to put two days in place, to reduce the number of days on which takeaway can be bought.

The second clause in the Greens amendment deals with sales of certain amounts of alcohol for consumption away from licensed premises. It seeks to do something with the information that is being collected. This clause is a bit tricky and I think some people will see it as a bit of a police-state reaction. Everybody agrees that we have to stop the rivers of grog. We are concerned about collecting this information—I appreciate that the legislation has progressed what was in the bill that passed through this chamber in the last sitting—so the Greens amendment allows the police to take action to pursue large purchases of alcohol and/or suspicious purchases of alcohol. The police will be able to do something to stop the rivers of grog going into communities. They will be able to stop the grog-runners.

People may see this as an imposition on their lifestyles: they buy $200 worth of alcohol and all of a sudden the police come to their door. We appreciate that the police would be sensible about how they implement this law. If we are going to get serious about these issues and deal with them we need to take some pretty serious action. As I said in my speech during the second reading debate, the things that work are not popular. When it comes to dealing with alcohol, if something is popular it will not work. I can guarantee that this will not be popular but it will help address the grog-running into those communities that we are trying to keep grog out of.

I will ask the minister a question about this because it seems to me that the bill is unclear at the moment about what is going to be done with the information when it is provided to the commission. When we sat down to look at the bill and these amendments, we were unsure about the operating factor and what happens once the information goes to the commission. So we are seeking to do something that will stop grog-running. This amendment was suggested to us by Aboriginal community members as a way of dealing with this issue. We have talked to the communities about this and we thought it would be another way to deal with grog-running into communities.