Page 2525 - Week 08 - Thursday, 19 August 1993
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In relation to alcohol, we heard that the more recent alcohol advertisements have complied with the voluntary code to discourage excessive consumption and not to link alcohol with social or sexual success. The council has reserved its decision on supporting the self-regulatory approach and will review the alcohol industry's advertising performance again in 1994.
Madam Speaker, an interesting development is the National Food Authority's in-principle recommendation to introduce standard drinks labelling. The labelling will clearly identify how many standard drinks are in the beverage container, allowing people to readily monitor their consumption. Among the conservatives there have been some reservations about this. I think that interests out there in the alcohol production world have been trying to remove that requirement, but I think it is a positive move and that that resistance has to be overcome. I think it will be. This recommendation has now been referred to Ministers responsible for food standards and, with their agreement, may be implemented in 1994. We were also informed that the national drug strategy will conduct a major symposium on alcohol and violence to be held in Canberra in December this year. The national drug strategy has commissioned a range of innovative research projects which will be reported on at the symposium.
In relation to illicit drugs, the council issued a statement which acknowledged the ongoing debate about the legal status of drugs. It reaffirmed that the council is the prime intergovernment ministerial council to consider and develop drug policy. The council stated:
We consider Australia's present approach to illegal drugs, which combines law enforcement and harm reduction, is balanced, realistic and pragmatic. (The Council) believes it is important to support a more informed community debate.
We were also informed of the summary results of the 1993 national household survey on drug use in Australia. The survey has been conducted four times since 1985 and clear trends are emerging. The use of tobacco and misuse of alcohol are becoming major concerns to Australians, while the concern over illicit drug use, high in 1985, has dropped consistently since then.
For the first time questions on alcohol-related violence were asked. Almost 40 per cent of respondents reported being on the receiving end of alcohol-related violence in the last 12 months. Those are pretty disturbing figures. Madam Speaker, there are a number of specific focal points for violence in the ACT, and I note that my colleague the Minister for Urban Services has recently imposed restrictions on the Summernats meeting to avoid the outbursts of alcohol-related violence we saw last time. The symposium on alcohol and violence will present a major opportunity to debate and develop effective solutions to this widespread problem. The household survey carried out by the Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy revealed strong support for enforcing under-age drinking and cigarette purchasing prohibitions.
There was high-level support for smoke-free environments, with 79 per cent supporting workplace bans, 74 per cent supporting bans in restaurants, and 70 per cent wanting smoking banned in shopping malls. Madam Speaker, the Government has made a strong commitment to introduce smoke-free environments. It is pleasing to see that this move is supported not only in the ACT but throughout Australia.
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