Page 449 - Week 02 - Thursday, 22 February 1990
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DR KINLOCH: It is good to know that Bill will continue for the time being, at any rate, to represent his party on all committees of the Assembly. It is rough on Bill himself, but he has shown himself able for the tasks he has been given; perhaps other members of the Labor Party could occasionally step in as substitutes to give him some time off. I ask them to begin to pull their weight.
I did not become involved with the question of public behaviour with any foregone conclusions. I vaguely knew about supposed problems at bus stops and outside clubs and pubs. At my age I do not find myself in a position to observe at first hand what goes on in the streets at 2.30 am, and I do commend young Bill Wood and young Mr Stevenson for acting on our behalf.
I am a member of two clubs, the Canberra Workers Club and the Ainslie Football Club, but I have never experienced at first hand any of the problems which appeared in the evidence presented to us. The worst problem of public behaviour known to me, personally, is people who insist on talking during the showing of a film, but the committee did not address that matter. Having heard witnesses and having read the evidence, I am in no doubt that there are very considerable problems related to the excessive use of alcohol in our city, and indeed in our whole society.
Members of the committee do not say this in a blue-nosed way. Most of us are, ourselves, partial to alcohol - with one exception, I believe. I am, myself, happily aware of the restorative effects of a well known Scottish potion, the kind of folk medicine for those of us with Celtic genes; but it is desperately clear that the misuse and overuse of alcohol is related to problems both of private and public behaviour.
Perhaps the biggest single problem beyond the terms of reference of the committee is alcohol in relation to domestic violence. The committee recognises that alcohol is certainly a problem on public occasions, on public holidays and in the behaviour of some patrons of pubs, clubs and bars at various times of the day.
One of the saddest findings of the committee was, alas, that alcohol was a factor in some under-18 misbehaviour, and there was an unfortunate example of this last weekend. The committee did not investigate the effect of alcohol on motor vehicle accidents, but that should be added into consideration of the responsibility of the Assembly to deal with the other problems raised in our inquiry related to alcohol.
For this reason Mr Stevenson and I agree that our present licensing laws are extraordinarily permissive for a society with the levels of alcohol abuse for which, sadly, Australia is infamous. We do not advocate prohibition or even minimal times for the sale of alcohol. We do, however, respect the careful evidence given by the police.
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