The Centralian advocate Tue 31 Oct 2017
Centralian Advocate; NewspaperNT
2017-10-31
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English
Community newspapers -- Northern Territory -- Alice Springs; Tennant Creek (N.T.) -- Newspapers; Alice Springs (N.T.) -- Newspapers.; Australia, Central -- Newspapers
Nationwide News Pty. Limited
Alice Springs
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Nationwide News Pty. Limited
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019C01326
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/280067
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/417671
TUESDAY OCTOBER 31 2017 LETTERS 19 V1 - CAVE01Z01MA Authority needed One of the key recommendations of Chief justice Trevor Rileys Alcohol Policy Review is to have licensing inspectors take the place of police at bottle shops. The questions is, will these licensing inspectors have the authority to fulfil the role of the police, or will they just be security guards? The primary role of police at bottle shops is not security. Granted, their presence there does deter confrontations with bottle shop staff, but that is secondary to their primary role. Their primary role is to prevent the sale of alcohol to persons who have no legal location at which to consume it. In other words, if you are from a dry community and want to purchase alcohol in Alice Springs (also Tennant Creek and Katherine) the question is where are you going to drink it? Since alcohol cannot be consumed in any public place in these communities, and since it cannot be taken home to drink, there is a likelihood that if purchased it will be illegally consumed. This action by the police is crime prevention, and al though the crime at hand is the illegal consumption of alcohol, its effectiveness in also preventing alcohol-fuelled violence in the community is well documented and lauded by both Dr John Boffa of the Peoples Alcohol Action Coalition and independent Araluen MLA Robyn Lambley. These new licensing inspectors must be given the authority to fulfil that role; otherwise their presence at bottle shops will be a waste of time and money, doing nothing to stem the alcohol-fuelled violence that plagues our communities. E Jerome, Alice Springs Opponents flaws There has been much discussion in the public arena in recent days about what the introduction of a floor price on takeaway alcohol may mean. There have been many comments about the fact that people who want alcohol will find the money to buy it, no matter what the price; and that it is unfair to impact people without an alcohol problem by raising the price of some alcohol products. It is important to make it clear that a floor price will not stop people from drinking but it will reduce the amount of alcohol that the heaviest drinkers consume overall. People will get less bang for their buck this is a harm minimisation approach. Under a floor price, the price of the cheapest takeaway alcohol (generally wine in bottles or casks) would go up, so that it costs around $1.50 per standard drink the price of full strength beer, which is likely to be the benchmark used. So if someone has $100 to spend on alcohol, it will reduce the number of standard drinks they can purchase at a takeaway outlet. Peoples incomes are generally finite its not like people will have more money to spend once a floor price is introduced. If the bottle of wine one normally buys currently costs more than $1.50 per standard drink (e.g. $15 for eight standard drinks) the cost of that bottle of wine will not change. Nor will the price of spirits rise as they are already well above $1.50 per standard drink. Given that the price of full strength beer is likely to be the benchmark for a floor price the price of beer wont change either. It is really important that we understand that it is only the cheapest forms of takeaway alcohol whose price will change. If some people, who consume alcohol responsibly, have to pay a bit more for their alcohol product of choice surely this is a small price for them to pay for the long-term social, health and economic benefits that will result for the population of the Northern Territory as a whole. Jonathan Pilbrow, Larapinta Quote of the day We have visitors from all around the world; and they all want to try a local beer L O C A L B R E W E R A N D E A R T H S A N C T U A R Y C O - D I R E C T O R B E N F A L Z O N What are your three favourite things about Halloween? Scary people, chocolate and seeing how much effort people put into their costumes. ALEX LEWIS, 10 Trick or treating, scary slime and dressing up. ALANNAH CLARK, 7 Candy, hanging out with friends and face paint. TARYN CLARK, 12 Getting lots of candy, dressing up as a witch and fake spiders. CAITLYN CLARK, 5 letters@aliceadvocate.com.au Visits from Demons fire up Red Centre IT is fantastic to see elite sport in Alice Springs and the town will be busy once again in 2018 with Melbourne Demons bringing their AFLW side to the Red Centre. In a first for the AFLW, the Demons will host Collingwood at TIO Traeger Park on February 24 in a major coup for Central Australia. The womens game has been growing at a fast rate in Alice Springs in recent years, with the competition playing on a full-sized field for the first time this year. No doubt seeing the likes of Daisy Pearce and Moana Hope showcase their talent on the Traeger Park stage will only help to grow the game, and that is extremely exciting for the region. The Demons opponent for the AFL match in Alice Springs was also announced, with the Adelaide Crows set to swoop into town. This is another huge plus for Alice Springs, with last years grand finalists sure to thrill fans with their exciting brand of football. Seeing some of the competitions elite such as Taylor Walker, Rory Sloane, Jack Viney and Jesse Hogan square off in Alice Springs, with the game to be televised live on free to air, will be amazing. The Demons arent just kicking goals on the field in Central Australia, with the club announcing a partnership with the Central Australian Football Club moving forward. This is in an aim to create pathways for indigenous footballers to make the AFL. The partnership will help develop Centralians not only into better footballers, but better people. Well done Melbourne, exciting times lie ahead for the Red Centre. 6 29 1300THE number of wickets Alice Springs Daniel Clarke took in the SACA First Grade competition on Saturday. THE per cent rise in number of Territorians working in construction THE amount of calls made to the snake phone last year 2 Gap Road, Alice Springs PO Box 2254, Alice Springs 0870 Phone: (08) 8950 9777 Fax: (08) 8950 9740 www.alicenow.com.au News: news@aliceadvocate.com.au Letters: letters@aliceadvocate.com.au Sport: sport@aliceadvocate.com.au Display ads: ads@aliceadvocate.com.au Classifieds: cenclassies@aliceadvocate.com.au Editor: Corey Sinclair Features Editor: Steve Menzies Sports Editor: Anthony Geppa Sales Manager: Lisa Nadan Editorial content and election comment is authorised by Corey Sinclair of 2 Gap Road, Alice Springs. 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