Opposition voiced to proposed liquor restrictions

Andrew Mackay says the same restrictions would never be considered for Perth.

"They are draconian, they are over the top."

"There's about 50 people who constantly cause anti-social behaviour; if all of these liquor restrictions were carried out, the other 32,000 people living in Kalgoorlie-Boulder would pay the price."

That's local MP John Bowler's reaction to the proposed liquor restrictions being considered for Kalgoorlie-Boulder, and the surrounding towns of Coolgardie and Kambalda.

Earlier this year, WA police applied to the Director of Liquor Licensing to restrict bottle shop sales, in a bid to address high rates of alcohol-related crime and health issues in the community.

The owner of the Broken Hill Hotel in Boulder, Andrew Mackay, is also angered by the proposals.

He believes it will change the fabric of Kalgoorlie-Boulder.

"There's no more impromptu barbeques on a Sunday, if you want to have friends over, if you don't have a couple of beers in the fridge, you won't be able to run down to the local bottle shop," he said.

"This town doesn't deserve this restriction and it doesn't deserve to be treated this way.

"There are people flying into this town from all over the country, this town is a melting pot of all Australians, and it then starts to become a laughing stock, people won't come and work here."

He says similar restrictions would never be considered for Perth.

"There's two sets of rules and it just doesn't sit well with the people here in town," he said.

"Rather than coming out with a big stick and waving it over a town of 30,000 people, it's probably time that the leaders of this town and community, and the police and the elected officials, sit down and start to work out a plan that they can take to the government and get the government's support to put it into place."

Alarming figures

The proposed laws would see the sale of takeaway liquor banned on Sundays, and restricted between the hours of 12pm and 8pm Monday to Saturday.

The restrictions would also ban the sale of alcoholic containers in excess of one litre, with an alcohol content of more than six per cent, as well as the sale of glass beer bottles in excess of 400 millilitres.

The Goldfields-Esperance police acting Superintendent, Darren Sievwright, says the high level of alcohol-related harm in the community needs to be addressed.

"We're doing what we think is right to minimise that," he said.

"The restrictions are targeted at people who are unable to control their drinking habits.

"This is one of the only ways that we feel we can have a positive impact on minimising alcohol related harm in the community."

Police detailed a number of arguments and statistics when they requested the restrictions.

Their submission stated that the city and its surrounds had a community wide drinking culture and the consumption of alcohol was nearly twice the amount of the rest of the state's average.

It also said the rate of alcohol-related assaults and hospitalisations was significantly higher than the state rate and in 2010/11, more than 70 per cent of domestic violence incidents were linked to drinking.

Health expert Mike Daube says the community needs to start facing up to the issue.

"The bottom line is that there's a lot of drinking going on, that Kalgoorlie in particular is a place that just does have a lot of harm from alcohol," he said.

"I think these restrictions are not about affecting an ordinary responsible drinker but they are about reducing some of the harm that has come about from inappropriate use of alcohol.

"Some curbs on access do make a difference, there's a deal of evidence that they do and frankly the people who say this is draconian and it's going to be the end of the world as we know it, I think are exaggerating vastly.

"It'll make very little difference to a normal, average, sensible drinker."

Data withheld?

The Australian Hotels Association has accused the WA police of withholding important data amidst a campaign to introduce liquor restrictions to the area.

Its WA chief executive, Bradley Woods, says figures provided by the Police Minister to Parliament show a significant decrease in alcohol-related offences around Kalgoorlie-Boulder.

Parliamentary papers reveal there were 120 alcohol-related offences in Kalgoorlie in 2010/11, compared to 217 the year before.

In Boulder, during the same periods there were 76 alcohol-related offences, down from 134 incidents.

Mr Woods says the information should have been provided by police.

"What it shows is very, very different to the submission that went to the Department of Racing, Gaming and Liquor," he said.

"In fact, it's so different that it shows that there's a 50 per cent decline in the number of alcohol-related problems over the past three years.

"There's some serious questions here that have to be asked of the WA police, as to why the information was withheld and not included in the original submission, and really what is the police's true agenda here."

WA police have declined to comment on the allegations.

Professor Daube says, however, alcohol restrictions have proven successful in smaller communities in northern WA.

"Maybe the best areas to look at are Halls Creek and Fitzroy Crossing," he said.

"When they were brought in we heard the usual cries, that it could be the end of civilisation as we know it.

"What we find is that there's significantly less harm, significantly less business for the police, emergency departments, for people in health, even for people in the social services."

Shifting problem

Mr Bowler says Professor Daube is a classic case of people in Perth thinking they know what's best for regional areas.

"Where does Mike Daube live? I'll tell you where he lives, he lives in Perth," he said.

"He will go to his favourite liquor shop and buy probably whenever he wants, it's typical of Perth hypocrisy.

"To compare Kalgoorlie to Halls Creek.....people like him conveniently forget to mention that the worst of the alcoholics in Halls Creek and those other towns have just moved to the outskirts of towns like Broome where they can get liquor.

"It just moves the problem from one town to the other."

Mr Bowler says he and other local politicians do support some of the proposals.

He agrees that bottle shops should open later in day and the sale of cheap, large quantities of cask wine should be restricted.

But, he says he is vehemently opposed to other restrictions.

Mr MacKay has collected around 2,500 submissions from other Goldfields' residents opposing the restrictions, and sent them to the Director of Liquor Licensing.

He says hotels will lose workers as trade falls off.

"A lot of the smaller traders will struggle," he said.

"There will be an effect not only on our industry but on other industries.

"There will be further closures on Hannan Street, there'll be a lack of tourists coming in to the place."

The Liquor Licensing Director, Barry Sargeant, is currently considering the request and is soon to hand down his decision.

Source: ABC News, 18 September 2012