Territory Stories

Debates Day 1 - Tuesday 25 February 1992

Details:

Title

Debates Day 1 - Tuesday 25 February 1992

Other title

Parliamentary Record 8

Collection

Debates for 6th Assembly 1990 - 1994; ParliamentNT; Parliamentary Record; 6th Assembly 1990 - 1994

Date

1992-02-25

Notes

Made available by the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory

Language

English

Subject

Debates

Publisher name

Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory

Place of publication

Darwin

File type

application/pdf

Use

Attribution International 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)

Copyright owner

Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory

License

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Parent handle

https://hdl.handle.net/10070/279504

Citation address

https://hdl.handle.net/10070/418786

Page content

DEBATES - Tuesday 25 February 1992 requirement not to serve intoxicated persons. Let us ensure that we take drunk drivers off the road. Despite the member for Wanguri's quaint references to my drinking habits, I have said unashamedly that I enjoy a drink, and so do 71% of the people in his electorate. If the member for Wanguri would like to visit the Tracy Village Social Club and repeat some of his disparaging remarks about people who enjoy a cold drink, I am sure he will get his just desserts. A member: They reckon he is a wowser. Mr FINCH: I do not believe that the member for Wanguri is a wowser at all. I cannot bring myself to believe that. Mr Speaker, we have to attack the problem at its source and ensure that people are not served alcohol beyond their capacity to handle it. As long as we keep drinkers off the roads, we will be part of the way there. By means of the educational and rehabilitation fund, the remainder of the program will have a chance to work over time. The Leader of the Opposition referred to Territorians learning about his alcohol policy in the future. What is wrong with now? This Assembly has been debating these issues seriously for some years. I cannot understand why the Leader of the Opposition and his colleagues cannot release their policies now. Should I be so cynical as to believe that he does not have the courage of his convictions to tell the people of the Territory what his policies are? Mr Bailey: You are attempting to have a quid each way. Mr FINCH: My policy has always been well known. Mr Bailey: It has not. Mr FINCH: Always well known. Mr Bailey: It has changed. Mr FINCH: For the benefit of the member for Wanguri, it has not changed at all. A member interjecting. Mr FINCH: Other than my shift of allegiance from a green can to a red can, it has not changed at all. What we ought to hear is what these people opposite stand for because the people in suburbia want to know. Mr BELL (MacDonnell): Mr Deputy Speaker, at 5 pm on the Saturday before last, 7 people were killed in an horrific accident on the Ross Highway just south of Alice Springs. The families and individuals involved in that accident were well known to me. They came from communities in lpy electorate - Papunya, Mt Liebig, Areyonga, Hermannsburg and, possibly, elsewhere. It is with that in mind that I rise to address this issue. In this evening's adjournment debate, I will refer to what I hope to do about the horrific death rate, which has been accentuated in the last month, in communities with which I am familiar. It would not be appropriate for me to rise in this debate without prefacing my remarks by referring to that horrific accident. In that accident, I am informed that the average blood alcohol level of the people 3591