Lockhart River mayor Wayne Butcher said local elders had final say on reintroduction of alcohol
A new licensed social club in a previously dry Indigenous community has sparked interest as the state government has left the door open to further alcohol reform in other restricted towns.
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LOCKHART River’s new social club has been welcomed by locals and has also caught the eye of other Indigenous leaders keen to follow a similar route out of a booze ban.
The new licensed premises ended 14 years of official alcohol bans in Lockhart River.
The state government has left the door open to further reform.
“The Queensland Government is supporting local decision-making through a renewed approach to alcohol management, which includes locally managed alcohol restrictions and strategies,” said a Department of Seniors, Disability Services and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships spokesperson.
The government is providing relevant councils with $335,000 over three years to develop local community safety plans, according to the spokesperson.
Lockhart River mayor Wayne Butcher said other communities had shown interest in his town’s new model.
“I think they’re looking for something similar to what we have,” he said.
“The social club is new and I’d rather them come to visit us 12 months down the track so we can get a feel of how the social environment is going and whether it’s had an impact on … the wellbeing of children and elders.”
Mr Butcher said the final decision rested with the local justice group that included elders’ voices.
“They could see how the younger generations’ behaviour in binge drinking was so damaging,” he said.
“It was the local justice group that had the last signature on any changes to the AMP.
“So the social club had their blessing because they understood there was already a lot of alcohol abuse in their community. They wanted to see alcohol consumption done in a safer and more regulated environment.”
Dr Jason King, a GP at Gurriny Yealamucka Health Service in Yarrabah, another Indigenous community with alcohol restrictions, said he’s observed better outcomes concerning alcohol management when community members have an open discourse with local government and health services about consumption of substances.
“Any approach that imposes a prohibition approach drives the consumption of that substance underground,” he said.
“That’s why we see problems in select communities with sly grogging.
“It creates a criminalisation of the behaviour of alcohol consumption … which disempowers communities.
“From a health perspective, we have to understand that if we want to change behaviour you have to have a relationship with someone. If you’re driving the behaviour underground, people aren’t going to come forward and seek assistance.
“We often find people who are troubled by alcohol consumption … do have other health problems that are going unattended because of that disconnection.”
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Originally published as Lockhart River mayor Wayne Butcher said local elders had final say on reintroduction of alcohol
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