Page 1809 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 15 June 1993
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Another issue that will probably be of some interest to members is recommendation 21, which reads:
That the Liquor Act 1975 be amended to allow young people, under the age of 18 years, to be served alcohol on licensed premises, solely in those circumstances where those young people are both:
(a) in the company of a parent or guardian -
and that means just those who are with a parent or guardian, not an adult friend -
and
(b) are being served with a meal.
It requires those two provisos. The idea originally came out of the discussions we had with school students, and it was echoed by quite a number of college students. When the issue was raised publicly there was some objection to the idea of young people being able to get liquor freely when they were with somebody who might be able to claim that they were a parent. We felt that the restriction of making alcohol available to young people when a meal was involved was an important restriction. It presents to young people the whole idea of using alcohol in an appropriate way, and I think that that is part of the whole education process - an education process based on a philosophy of harm minimisation.
It is important for me to thank the other members of the committee, particularly Mrs Grassby, the deputy chair, and Mrs Carnell. I also extend my thanks to the secretary of the committee, Ron Owens. As an aside, I mention that Mr Owens is actually delivering one of the keynote speeches at a conference in Brisbane later this year on philosophy and drug law reform. The fact that he was in a position to be able to do that, both through his own studies and through what he has learnt on this committee, is a credit not only to him personally but also to this Assembly and to the Assembly secretariat and committees.
Mr Wood: That is right. He has his quote in, too. He has his usual quote.
MR MOORE: Mr Wood draws attention to the quote at the beginning of this report, as has been the case in all the interim reports of both drugs committees. In this case, for those of you who cannot read Greek - and that includes me - there is a translation just below:
Socrates it is said is guilty of corrupting the young and of not recognising the gods recognised by the city, believing in other deities.
It may well be appropriate, even if a little esoteric, for us to apply that to this report.
It is with some mixed feelings that I will retire as chair of a committee looking at drugs. For almost the entire time that I have been a member of parliament, with the exception of a few months at the beginning of the First Assembly, I have held a position that has fulfilled that responsibility. It has been something I have enjoyed immensely. With those few words, Madam Speaker, I present the report of the Select Committee on Drugs.
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