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Our drunk nation

News Clippings Senator Steve Fielding, thepunch.com.au, August 27 2009

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I’m going to do something here that most pollies wouldn’t do and ask for help. Help in trying to address Australia’s $16bn alcohol toll. I want the readers of The Punch to leave a comment and share their ideas on how governments can address Australia’s binge drinking culture and the violence which stems from it.

Three years ago I took a 10 point plan to both John Howard and Kevin Rudd. It included advertising restrictions and health warning labels.
But with that plan shot down its now time for fresh ideas as this a real issue which this country as a whole needs to take responsibility for.
As we know only too well, Kevin Rudd’s idea of fixing this nation’s binge drinking culture was to slap a tax on alcopops. Well Kevin, that’s done nothing to prevent the alcohol fuelled violence which has taken hold on our streets. It’s now almost 18 months since the tax was introduced and we’re still reading about alcohol related bashings and glassings in the paper every week.
Now I’m no wowser. I drink and most Australians drink, but something needs to be done to stop the $16bn a year in taxpayers’ money from being wasted on cleaning up after drunks. That’s not to mention the 40 percent of police work which is related to the excessive consumption of alcohol.

One of the most disturbing things that I’ve noticed over the years is how many Australians still believe that in order to have a good time you need to drink. It’s as if it’s just not possible to go out and socialise if there’s no alcohol involved. Recently I was shocked to hear from one of my staff the amount of alcohol they used to consume when they were younger.I can’t understand how anyone can have 12 jager bombs and a number of other drinks in the space of a few short hours. How this 20 something year old played cricket the following day left me dumbfounded. But this is the reality which we are dealing with today. This is how much our youth are drinking. It’s this level of alcohol consumption which is leading to a spike in alcohol fuelled violence on our streets. It’s no wonder people are getting beaten up around nightspots where there is the dangerous cocktail of 12 jager bombs and testosterone mixed together. We could always put more police on the streets but is that really going to address the core problem that we’ve got here?

I voted against the alcopops tax because I believed we needed to do more than just hike up the price of one alcohol product. We needed to also de-hook alcohol advertising from televised sport. By having alcohol ads during sports programming it glamorises and sanitises the consumption of alcohol to our kids.

Before I would even consider another tax grab I would want the government to commit up front to health warning labels and tighter alcohol advertising restrictions.
Picture this: You are alone at home with your young children watching football on television. The doorbell rings. A man stands at the door with his arms laden with alcohol products. He says he is there to sit with your children. He is dressed in sporting gear. He assures you that the children cannot drink the products he has with him but they can look as much as they like. Would you invite him in to sit on your couch next to your children? I don’t think so. But that is what Kevin Rudd is allowing to happen by allowing alcohol advertising to continue during sports programming.

But that aside what else can we do? Some say 2am lockouts. Others say 2am close. Others say that it’s all too extreme. What’s important is that have a proper debate on the issue and have all Australians involved in trying to resolve Australia’s $16bn alcohol toll and the violence associated with it.