NT government snubs senate inquiry on lapse of Intervention-era alcohol bans

The Chief Minister says she ‘won’t be listening’ to a senate inquiry that’s urged her government to probe ‘failures’ on alcohol policy. Read the federal committee’s list of nine requests.

The Territory government “won’t be listening to” a commonwealth inquiry into the lapse of blanket alcohol bans across Aboriginal communities.

Chief Minister Natasha Fyles said it was the federal government, not her own, that failed Territorians when Intervention-era grog bans lifted in July last year with nothing in their place.

It comes after Canberra urged the NT government to probe what a senate inquiry said was “inadequate preparations” for the change in restrictions.

“I found it a bit rich that the commonwealth came out when their legislation lapsed,” Ms Fyles said.

“Let’s be clear – it was commonwealth legislation that lapsed.

“It was the commonwealth government that walked away and left nothing in place.

“We won’t be listening to a commonwealth inquiry that is a bit late on this issue.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s snap visit to Alice Springs in January led to a range of new alcohol measures, including the return of blanket grog bans to communities. Picture: Liam Mendes / The Australian

The senate inquiry into community safety, support services and job opportunities in the Territory, sparked after the end of Stronger Futures grog bans, has handed down a list of nine recommendations.

Next to a review into the cessation of the bans, the joint standing committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs has recommended the Fyles government develop policies to “prevent a similar situation occurring in the future”.

Several federal Labor politicians are in the committee including Lingiari MP Marion Scrymgour and Senator Patrick Dodson, who is also the committee chair.

While Ms Fyles dismissed their recommendations, she said the Territory government had done an “enormous” amount of work on the issue.

“You’ve got world-leading reform from this Territory Labor government, and we’ll continue to work in this space,” she said.

Sweeping alcohol bans recently returned to many Aboriginal communities and town camps in February following weeks of intense pressure on the Territory government.

Chief Minister Natasha Fyles reintroduced alcohol restrictions in February not unlike what she previously described as “race-based policy”. Picture: Pema Pakhrin

Communities must now develop their own alcohol management plan, with the approval of 60 per cent of residents and the director-general of licensing, to bring grog back into their homes.

“The fact that the NT Government (in February) reintroduced alcohol restrictions in remote communities with an ‘opt-out’ mechanism, demonstrates that there was not adequate preparation for sunsetting the Stronger Futures Act,” the senate committee report reads.

“Some consultation was undertaken by the NT government with land councils and certain peak bodies.

“However, consultation missed certain groups, especially women, and did not enable community understanding of the impacts of the proposed transition.

“Because the Stronger Futures Act had a legislated end date, it should have been possible for the NT and commonwealth governments to work with affected communities to prepare for the transition.”

“Both the NT and commonwealth governments failed to prepare.”

The committee has asked the Territory government to hold its review before the end of this year.

The senate inquiry report also urges both the NT and federal governments to review funding agreements with service providers to “ensure that they are fit for purpose”.

It comes amid the promise of a $250m lifeline to Central Australia, designed to target youth diversion, job creation and better health services

However in the first parliament sittings of this year the Fyles government voted down an Opposition-led move to create a bipartisan committee to oversee federal funding on Aboriginal disadvantage.

Meanwhile, CLP senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has tabled a Bill that, if successful, would replace the NT government’s new liquor bans with restrictions closer to those of the Intervention era.

Several senators have already spoken against the move with debate to resume on March 20.

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