(15 Years of successful policy undone – under the radar – in just two months!)
Just 7 of 400 communities to remain dry from Sunday
By Zizi Averill, Jul 15, 2022
SEVEN Aboriginal communities have chosen to remain dry following a controversial decision to overturn a booze ban for more than 400 remote areas. On Sunday, alcohol will legally flow into previously dry communities across the NT for the first time in 15 years.
SEVEN Aboriginal communities have chosen to remain as dry areas following a controversial decision to overturn a longstanding ban on booze sales for more than 400 remote communities.This Sunday, alcohol will legally flow into previously dry communities across the Territory for the first time in 15 years.The changes come as a result of the Associations and Liquor Amendment Bill 2022, which passed through parliament in May despite outcry from Aboriginal medical groups, legal advocates, social services, and the NT Police Association.Communities were given the choice to ‘opt-in’ to a two-year extension to their dry community status.On Friday, Liquor Licensing director Philip Timney declared an extension to alcohol bans for the Bagot, Bulman, Jodetluk, Knuckey Lagoon Indigenous Village, Palmerston Indigenous Village, Railway Dam, and Weemol community areas.A spokeswoman for Chief Minister Natasha Fyles said 10 other communities were also in talks to remain alcohol protected areas, with the deadline to sign up set for January 31, 2023.“These restrictions are not designed to be permanent but allow those communities extra time to more closely consider their long-term alcohol aspirations,” the spokeswoman said.She said the changes did not impact 112 communities, which were General Restricted Areas prior to the 2007 Intervention.However, the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress said more than 400 communities would be affected by the Liquor Act changes.Ms Fyles’s spokeswoman said the changes brought to an end the “last living remnants of the Intervention”, ending the “race-based policy targeting Aboriginal Territorians with little to no engagement”.However, the decision to lift the longstanding bans were widely rebuked for a lack of consultation.AMSANT chief executive John Paterson said the NT already had the highest per capita rate of alcohol consumption, with concerns the return of takeaway alcohol could devastate regional areas.“(This) will bring about an immediate increase in alcohol intake in certain communities and homelands, and in turn this could lead to an increase in alcohol-fuelled violence and crime,” Dr Paterson said.He said the “11th hour” consultations had not allowed communities to have the time to discuss, make informed decisions and then implement strategies to minimise harms.