Dumping alcohol floor price in NT ‘a danger for women and children’

The NT government is set to push ahead and dump the floor price on alcohol despite calls to leave it in place.

The Northern Territory government is set to scrap the minimum unit price on alcohol.

A damning coroner’s report into the domestic violence deaths of four Aboriginal women has ­renewed calls for the new Northern Territory government to dump its plan to scrap the floor price on alcohol.

A group of community, health and Aboriginal community controlled organisations say control on alcohol pricing is a key ­element in the territory’s toolkit to reduce alcohol harm, and fear the consequences of its imminent removal for the safety of women and children.

Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory chief executive John Paterson said a report this week by coroner Elisabeth Armitage following an inquest into four women killed by domestic violence called for “an evidence-based alcohol strategy to reduce domestic, family and sexual violence”.

“We need to be doing everything we can to keep our communities safe, and we know that alcohol exacerbates family and domestic violence, (and) removing the floor price would lead to more alcohol harms, more crime and more disadvantage,” Dr ­Paterson said.

Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory chief executive John Paterson.

“Instead of rushing to implement these plans while the ink is still drying on the coroner’s ­report, we are asking the NT government to reconsider its proposal to change these crucial policies, and give us the opportunity to have a say on any changes that will significantly ­impact our community.”

In 2018, the NT introduced a banned drinker register and minimum unit pricing on the basis that cheap alcohol was linked to a range of social, health and economic harms. But in August the Country Liberal Party won office on a crime-reduction mandate, with one of the policies it took to the election being the removal of the floor price on alcohol.

On Monday Judge Armitage released her findings into the deaths of four Aboriginal women, who are among 82 Indigenous women killed in domestic violence attacks in the Northern Territory since 2000.

Describing it as a “tragedy for our community”, Judge Armitage made 35 recommendations, including more funding for frontline emergency services and women’s shelters.

She specifically called out the need to “create and implement an evidence-based strategy to ­reduce alcohol availability.”

But Leader of Government Business Steve Edgington, also the NT Minister for Alcohol Policy, said the move to scrap minimum unit pricing on alcohol would be introduced this week.

“The minimum floor price has not delivered tangible benefits ­because it has driven people to higher content alcohol products such as spirits, and that is why we are getting rid of it,” he said. “We’ve already passed public nuisance drinking laws, which gives our police stronger powers to fine, charge and arrest offenders in prohibited areas while ­ensuring those individuals are ­issued a seven-day banned ­drinker order.”

NT Minister for Alcohol Policy Steve Edgington. Picture: Che Chorley

But People’s Alcohol Action Coalition spokesman John Boffa said the floor price had proven ­effective in reducing rates of violence. “We know that at this time of year violence escalates, and services are under even more pressure,” Dr Boffa said.

Foundation for Alcohol ­Research and Education chief executive Caterina Giorgi said the NT government sat alongside all governments in September to review their alcohol laws in line with best practice in terms of ­reducing domestic violence.

“These proposed changes to alcohol policies in the NT is at odds with this commitment, and does not prioritise the wellbeing and safety of women and children,” Ms Giorgi said.

Menzies School of Health ­Research senior research fellow Cassandra Wright said alcohol pricing policies were “an essential part of the toolkit of governments who are serious about reducing rates of alcohol harm”. “Dismantling any effective alcohol policy in the context of the magnitude of harms we experience is completely unacceptable,” she said.