Alcohol restriction recommendations submitted

News: Alcohol restriction recommendations submitted

Council has delivered a written submission to the Liquor Commission in relation to alcohol restrictions in town.

Posted: Thursday, 5 April 2018

The Barkly Regional Council delivered a written submission earlier this month to the Liquor Commission in regard to whether current restrictions in Tennant Creek should be removed, relaxed, retained or made more restrictive.

Due to the tight timeframe for submissions Council did not have sufficient opportunity to form a majority opinion on what it would consider to be appropriate steps for the Liquor Commission to take regarding future liquor restrictions.

However, based on information received from the Council-hosted Public Forum on 8 March, a Stakeholder consultation on 3 April and attendance at a Public Meeting on 4 April, Barkly Regional Council has recommended the following:

Government immediately introduce and implement all recommendations from the Riley Review Current restrictions be left as is and be open to further consideration by the Alcohol Reference Group and the Local Liquor Accord through a local decision making process Increase trading hours from 12:00pm to 8:00pm to ensure there is stability in the workforce and no impact on tourism and the overall economy Government investigate the introduction of an approved drinker’s register similar to that in Gove Government immediately commence addressing some of the underlying causes of alcoholism such as overcrowded housing, unemployment and a lack of suitable and sustainable treatment and rehabilitation services Government introduce a task force to target the small percentage of problem drinkers in Tennant Creek including utilising and enforcing ‘restricted premises’ legislation Increase the percentage of welfare payments quarantined on the Basics Card to reduce the cash available to purchase alcohol and drugs

The Barkly Regional Council is actively trying to ensure that Tennant Creek and the Barkly region is the preferred place to live, work, visit and invest in.

Council is eager to be involved in the decision making process around future liquor initiatives. We also urge that the Liquor Commission ensures thorough community consultation is carried out prior to any changes being imposed.