Government backs away from unpopular .05 alcohol limits for NT skippers

THE future of fishing in the Territory is still up in the air, one year after the Gunner Government said they would bring in widely unpopular alcohol limits for boat drivers

Jay Anderson of Herbert in the Northern Territory enjoys a beer on his boat near Dinah Beach in Darwin. Licensing in the Northern Territory allows Territorians the freedom to enjoy alcohol while piloting a boat.

THE Territory Government is poised to walk away from its deeply unpopular drink boating laws, the NT News understands.

Introduction of a 0.05 blood alcohol limit for skippers was a recommendation of the Riley review handed to the Government last year. An options paper looking at how to implement that was never delivered and the NT News understands Labor will quietly dump the proposal altogether.

But Attorney-General Natasha Fyles told the NT News the Government was still in the middle of the consultation phase and gave no indication on when a decision would be made.

“Our working group, which includes AFANT and the NT Seafood Council, has met four times to discuss this issue and we’ve had constructive discussions,” she said.

“We said we’d consult with stakeholders to find legislation that best fits the Territory and we won’t be moving forward with this until access issues have been settled.”

Amateur Fishermen’s Association of the NT executive director David Ciaravolo, who has played an active role in the working group, said he had raised concerns about the initial proposal of a 0.05 limit.

AFANT president Warren de With said he doubted the Government would be keen to touch the issue before the next election.

“The Government’s got bigger concerns right now to spend too much time worrying about this,” he said.

“Youth crime is more pressing than someone having a few cans out on the water.

“I don’t think it’s a problem; most NT fishos are responsible and police already do RBT blitzes along boat ramps, so there’s already enough deterrents.”

Senior Sergeant Stefan Herold said water police had responded to 129 incidents since January 2018 but there was no data to show how many of them involved alcohol.

“Anecdotal information would indicate that alcohol and/or drugs have been a factor in a number of marine incidents/accidents and search and rescue response operations over the years,” he said.

There are already laws that make it an offence to operate vessels in a dangerous manner. The Riley review came up with no evidence boozed boaties were creating strife.