Life under Australia’s toughest alcohol laws as Carnarvon adjusts to massive booze ban
An entire town has been forced to adopt the country’s strictest alcohol laws despite just 14 people being told they can’t buy a beer.
WA News
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ANALYSIS
For a month now, the coastal WA town of Carnarvon has been living under newly tightened alcohol restrictions widely considered the strictest in the country.
Takeaway alcohol is totally prohibited for two days of the week, every customer must scan their ID, and strict volume limits are among a raft of new rules for customers and traders in the town 900 kilometres north of Perth where soaring crime rates have created the need for change.
After years of attempting to curb alcohol-fuelled crime through its own liquor accord, the town’s trial of self-regulation was labelled “beyond pathetic” by WA’s then-Premier Mark McGowan in February, a characterisation the town vehemently rejected.
In early May, Mr McGowan announced a suite of alcohol restrictions in Carnarvon that were “tougher” than those seen in Alice Springs and the Northern Territory, in what he called a “nation-leading effort”.
“We are intervening to save lives … to save disruption and to prevent crime, and to ensure that children are kept safer in Carnarvon — and I make no apologies for that,” he said.
The restrictions limit customers to 11.25 litres (a slab of cans) of beer, cider or pre-mixed spirits with an alcohol percentage of less than 6 per cent, or 3.75 litres if over that amount.
Customers can also buy just 1.5 litres of wine, 1 litre of spirits and 1 litre of fortified wine.
The measures also ban the sale of any takeaway alcohol on Sunday or Monday, and limit trade to between 12pm and 7pm on any other day.
Wine by bottle or cask must be sold for at least $15, and wherever a product is available in cans, it shouldn’t be sold in glass.
A Banned Drinkers Register, already being trialled in parts of the Pilbara, Kimberley, and the Goldfields, has also been expanded to include Carnarvon and nearby Gascoyne Junction. The register requires bottle shop staff to check the identification of every customer against the register of banned drinkers with a scanner at the point of sale.
The catalyst for the alcohol crackdown was a recent spike in crime, with 792 offences reported last year and 527 of those pertaining to properties, largely affecting local businesses, but the reception to the new laws in the town of roughly 5200 has been mixed.
The town is a major producer of the nation’s fresh produce and a popular stop on WA’s northern tourism corridor, with upwards of 40,000 travellers passing through each year.
Many locals fear for the town’s reputation, and said Carnarvon is more than the sum of the ram raids, break-ins and street fights that litter its Google search results.
Of the thousands who call the area home, just 14 people from Carnarvon and nearby Gascoyne Junction have so far been placed on the Banned Drinkers Register (only one voluntary), according to figures from the latest Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries report, made available to news.com.au.
Of the register, Racing and Gaming Minister Reece Whitby said it provides a “targeted response to problem drinking and empowers individuals by allowing them to voluntarily place themselves on the register.”
“Alcohol-related harm is a longstanding, complex issue. There is no easy fix. The Banned Drinkers Register will not be a cure-all but I’m confident it will help address alcohol-related violence and anti-social behaviour in Carnarvon,” Mr Whitby said.
In the meantime, the town has no choice but to come to peace with the restrictions, and for some, it’s taking a toll.
How it works
Between Saturday 7pm – where ‘last drinks’ is called for anyone buying takeaway alcohol – and midday Tuesday, queues build up at the local bottle shops.
If you’re a local, you are subject to all of the government restrictions and must have your ID scanned to check whether or not you are on the state’s Banned Drinker’s Register.
It’s not much easier if you’re from out of town as you’ll be required to sign a form declaring you’re not staying in Carnarvon, thus not subject to volume limits.
This only adds to the midday rush as the once simple process of buying a six-pack can take up to 15 minutes before the sale is even made.
Attendants at one local bottle shop, Asha Jones and Ana Ferreira, said they had become the “complaints department” for the new restrictions.
“See, it’s so time-consuming,” Ana told news.com.au as she processed a customer at Al’s Bottlemart in the town’s east.
“I love this job, it used to be a good way to connect with people, but that’s kind of changed now,” Asha said.
The owner of that shop, Nathan Condo, said the restrictions were a huge financial and logistic blow.
He is now stuck with a mountain of stubbies, over 20 pallets worth, and a large number of wine casks that breach the new rules and are illegal to sell.
He can supply local licensees with the stubbies, but even that struggles to make a dent, as draught beer off-tap is the drink of choice at the pubs in town.
His only option is to bear the cost of shipping it all back to the supplier, who has agreed to a buyback.
Predictably, Mr Condo, who is part of the liquor accord, is unhappy with what’s been imposed.
“With the stroke of a pencil, they have treated us like criminals, and I haven’t had so much as a warning in the last seven years,” he said.
After dark
Neither those in town nor the government deny the involvement of youths in the recent spike in crime and property damage.
Jackie Cameron and Courtney Mongoo started their Thursday night shift for the Carnarvon Community Patrol in the local plaza outside Woolworths in the town’s small but busy CBD.
The plaza was full of local youngsters from various age groups.
Led by First Nations community members, the Patrol takes an assertive but understanding approach to keep the kids off the streets at night.
Ms Cameron and Ms Mongoo have a presence in the town for the children, and as they patrol the plaza and main street on foot, they offer peace of mind for local businesses still open.
If the kids they come across are hungry, Ms Cameron and Ms Mongoo can provide a feed of leftovers donated to the Patrol by local food outlets.
“We’re just here to calm them down, speak to them in good ways. They tend to respond to that better,” Ms Cameron explained.
“It used to be really bad in here (the plaza).
“You can see the difference anyway, all the kids are pretty respectful now.”
Ms Cameron said the service had taken some of the load off the local police.
“Our presence has calmed them down a bit – it’s something I think could work in the other towns you see on telly,” she said.
“Each kid that’s playing up, if we talk to them and calm them down, then the police don’t have to worry about coming down here.”
The Patrol also leans on a community bus service, which can take the kids home once they’ve had a chat and a feed.
Ms Cameron said the difference in child and adolescent foot traffic on the streets at night has been negligible since the restrictions were brought in, but the kids’ attitudes were slowly shifting.
“A lot of people say it’s not the alcohol that’s the trouble in this town, it’s the drugs, which I suppose is everywhere [in WA],” Ms Cameron said.
“I think it’s just bad publicity that’s given us a bad name.”
She added that many local kids are escaping their home lives to find solace on the streets at night.
“There’s nothing at home. Their parents might be drinking, there could be no food, so they’re just out here probably catching up with their mates.
“If their parents are on drugs, there’s probably no TV so they come around here to get away from it all.”
Ms Mongoo added: “For ages, everyone just walked around like these kids were invisible, and of course that’s how they’re gonna feel.”
The pair agreed a more permanent safe space was needed to offer the children an alternative to going home, with plans already afoot.
The Carnarvon Community Patrol, funded by the Aboriginal Biodiversity Conservation Foundation and partnering with the Shire of Carnarvon, is one that’s filled a significant services gap, and local businesses have noticed a difference.
Patrol success
Paul Dixon, president of the Carnarvon Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said a number of factors, including the Patrol, increased police presence and the alcohol laws, had reduced crime in recent months, but that the latter were “onerous to say the least”.
“There wouldn’t be a person in Carnarvon that didn’t think there needed to be some sort of restrictions,” Mr Dixon said.
“There’s no doubt it has contributed to a downturn of incidents in Carnarvon – but I don’t think it’s just that.
“The Community Patrol and the community bus have helped too.
“The incidents of smashed property in the main street is down to almost zero now – there’s many contributing factors to that, and I believe the alcohol restrictions are just one of them.”
With Carnarvon situated at the gateway of the Ningaloo Reef along one of WA’s main tourism corridors by road, he said the connotations of such heavy restrictions might impact the town negatively.
“All businesses – not just the ones selling alcohol – are a little bit concerned there is going to be an effect where people are more than likely not going to come to the town,” Mr Dixon said.
“The restrictions are quite onerous, to say the least. We need to sit down and have a level-headed discussion and say there are things that are not working.
“I think people don’t want holus-bolus adjustment. Most just want some tweaks.”
Mr Dixon drove home his point with a colourful analogy.
“If you reduce the speed limit to 30km/h – it’s going to reduce the road toll, but it’s going to give everyone the s**ts,” he said.
“Are we worse than Alice Springs?” he chuckled facetiously, gesturing to the bustling cafe strip.
His sentiment was one echoed clearly around town during news.com.au’s week in Carnarvon, with most locals agreeing there is a need for open discussions and potential adjustments to find a fair approach.
But whether or not the State Government will come to the table is unclear.
This story is part of a series on the impacts of Carnarvon’s newly implemented liquor restrictions.
Originally published as Life under Australia’s toughest alcohol laws as Carnarvon adjusts to massive booze ban
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