Licence buy backs a good step

The Central Land Council has congratulated the Australian and Northern Territory governments for announcing their intention to buy back three take away liquor licences in Alice Springs.

CLC director David Ross said the buy backs are a good step, but there remains an unacceptable amount of licenses for a town the size of Alice Springs.

“Evidence from the evaluation of Alice Springs’ Alcohol Management Plan and the more recent evaluation of voluntary restrictions in Norseman (WA) show that implementing alcohol supply reduction initiatives helps to reduce alcohol consumption and related harm in the community,” Mr Ross said.

“If governments are serious about reducing alcohol harm in the Northern Territory, a simple but effective measure would be to implement a volumetric tax, in line with the recommendations of the Henry tax review. This would permit a minimum price of $1 per standard drink to be fixed on all alcohol products.”

He said there is too much alcohol-related harm in Alice Springs and urged the two governments to continue reducing the number of licences in the town.

Mr Ross also said alcoholics need to be treated with compassion and much more must be invested in appropriate treatment and rehabilitation programs.

“These are people we are dealing with, not just statistics,” he said. “They need help to change their lives.”