Chief Minister pushes through 28-day Banned Drinker Orders amid fiery debate
Lia Finocchiaro says extending Banned Drinker Orders will help tackle crime over the busy summer period, coming out swinging against ‘gutter trash’ calls for more policy scrutiny.
Lia Finocchiaro says extending Banned Drinker Orders will help tackle crime over the busy summer period, coming out swinging against “gutter trash” calls for more policy scrutiny.
Laws to increase Banned Drinker Orders from seven to 28 days were introduced and passed on urgency on Thursday, the last sitting day of parliament for the year.
The extension was recommended by a recent government review into the Banned Drinker Register (BDR) system.
The review also called for three other reforms more onerous for business, which will be considered by the CLP government over the coming months.
Police Commissioner Martin Dole said the fast-tracked extension would be effective in helping bring down anti-social behaviour and crime.
“This just increases our ability to really specifically target those that are doing the wrong thing,” he said.
“It’s an effective tool for the Northern Territory police moving into summer to assist us in tackling alcohol related offending.”
But Labor and members of the crossbench accused the CLP government of sidelining due process and opportunities for real change – sparking some tense exchanges in the chamber.
“I am pissed off, quite frankly, because I am sick of the way government is running roughshod through democratic process,” Greens MLA Kat McNamara said.
“It cannot just pick one recommendation, claim it is doing it for the community while ignoring the other three. Put it to the scrutiny committee.
“With a former alcohol lobbyist as your chief of staff, how can Territorians be sure you are making alcohol policy in the best interest of the community rather than the bottom line of pubs and clubs?”
In response, Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said “it must be time for the bottom of the barrel from the queen of bottom of the barrel herself”.
“The gutter trash on the other side has still not been taken out with the rubbish from Cyclone Fina,” she said in Question Time.
Forced to withdraw the “gutter trash” comment in “the spirit of Christmas”, Mrs Finocchiaro said the BDR review delivered on an election commitment.
“There were four recommendations that were made that we are now working through. We were able to deliver straight away on one of them, and that is what Territorians like about our government – we deliver on what is important to them.
“We will now do that work of going through that review and engage with industry. We are not making any snap decisions, we have to do the consultation on that.”
The BDR was introduced in 2017 and works to ban identified people from buying alcohol at a takeaway outlet.
Other recommendations in the review considered extending it to pubs and clubs.
It suggested forcing on-premises scanning for licensees who repeatedly breached their liquor licence, and developing an opt-in system for clubs that chose to participate in on-premises scanning.
Broader data sharing arrangements and more training for BDR referrals were also recommended.
The review found the BDR worked best as part of a holistic strategy, including product and promotion restrictions, outlet monitoring and treatment referrals.
As of June 30 there were 4352 people on the BDR, up from 2857 in June 2022.
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Originally published as Chief Minister pushes through 28-day Banned Drinker Orders amid fiery debate
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