Page 3261 - Week 11 - Thursday, 12 September 1991
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Specifically, I reflect on one completed and one in-process report of the Social Policy Committee. I strongly endorse and restate Mr Wood's statement in his excellent preface to the report on our inquiry into public behaviour, of February 1990:
Almost universally, where there are problems, they can be attributed to the consequences of the abuse of alcohol.
Mr Wood will recall how, gradually, in that inquiry, all the members of the committee came to see that. I draw attention, in particular, to Mr Wood's prophetic comment:
There are, also, many more serious problems caused by alcohol abuse beyond those examined by the Committee.
He continued:
... we recognise how difficult it is to make any impact on deeply rooted traditions in Australia that excessive use of alcohol and the consequences of that use are acceptable.
On that committee we made many recommendations related to alcohol. Indeed, the majority of the recommendations were about alcohol, although we did not begin the inquiry thinking that we would wind up there. For instance, recommendation 2.2 states:
the police and the organisers of major public events monitor each event in order to seek means of minimising public behaviour problems in future, especially in relation to crowd congestion and alcohol consumption.
The next one, 2.3, states:
in terms of safety and control of drinking, the ACT Government should introduce glass container deposit legislation in the ACT.
I quote that one today because of the unhappy case of the young man who was injured by glass in a sandpit, I think, in recent days.
If you look at the findings of that report you will find that recommendations 6.1, 7.1, 7.2, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 9.1, 10.1, 11.1, 11.2, 12.1 and 12.2 all dealt with liquor - by far the majority of the committee's recommendations. I note especially 11.2, which states:
the matter of restricting "on licence" hours be held on notice for the Committee's future consideration.
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