Cabinet lifts booze ban on Government jets
STATE Cabinet Ministers and their guests will again be able drink booze on government jets after a nine-year-old alcohol ban was lifted.
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STATE Cabinet ministers and their guests will again be able drink booze on government jets with the Premier lifting a nine-year-old alcohol ban.
The decision was signed off by Cabinet on Monday, on the eve of Campbell Newman's two-day trade mission to Papua New Guinea on the government jet.
Alcohol was being loaded on the aircraft as Mr Newman revealed the lifting of the ban, which he said would come at no cost to taxpayers.
"I assure Queenslanders we will be paying for our own drinks," he said. "That's the way it's going to operate. So if I have a drink on a government aircraft I will have to pay for that drink."
Mr Newman said he didn't plan to indulge on the way to PNG but might "have one" on the return.
Former premier Peter Beattie banned booze from government aircraft in 2004 after an embarrassing breach of regulation in an Aboriginal dry community. Ministerial staffer Teresa Mullan was sacked then reinstated after admitting to taking a bottle of wine on the government jet on a trip to the Lockhart River area.
The penalty for such an offence was $75,000, but police received legal advice suggesting the alcohol ban did not extend to tarmacs which are federally regulated.
Under the Newman Government's policy, the onus will be on Government Air Wing staff to ensure alcohol is not carried into dry communities.
Ministers on board the flights will be responsible for paying for drinks consumed, as well as responsible consumption.
The relaxation of the alcohol ban is in line with changes to liquor laws set to be passed by the Government, which will allow schools and community organisations to sell alcohol at social events without a permit.
Hospitals and nursing homes will also be able to provide patients and residents with up to two standard drinks a day without a liquor licence.
Police, doctors and the National Alliance for Action on Alcohol have raised concerns about the changes and the "lack of safeguards against the additional harm that increased access to alcohol will cause".