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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 10 Hansard (24 September) . . Page.. 3630 ..

MRS CROSS (continuing):

This is what being young is about. It is the only time you are allowed to get away with testing things to this extent-aside from what we do in this chamber. Doing stupid things when you are young is just a part of life. I am sure most people sitting in this Assembly today can relay at least one story of drunken stupidity when they were young. Luckily for most of us, these incidents occurred a long time ago.

MR SPEAKER: Speak for yourself!

MRS CROSS: Yes, Mr Speaker. Rather than aiming to stop young people from pushing the limits and testing things, we must make it safer for them to do so-and make the choices about those activities better educated decisions. There is no reflection on you, Mr Speaker.

I am not advocating giving teenagers alcohol or introducing teenage drinking rooms, as advocated at a recent alcohol forum, or even reducing the legal age limit for alcohol consumption-I am merely being realistic. In my attempt to be realistic, I am assuming your advice to me is that you have never had alcohol in your life, to any increasing degree!

Trying to stop all young people from experimenting with alcohol and drugs is impossible. Regardless of the rules which are in place, young people are going to try new things. We all know prohibition does not work, and we must accept that.

There are various education programs in place to make sure that as much information as possible is available to young people. We also need to make sure that, if young people so choose, they experiment in safe environments and at least with the knowledge that their parents are there for them if they get into strife.

The safest environment for young persons to experiment is an environment where they feel they can speak openly and freely with their parents about alcohol and drug-related issues. Further, children need to be able to feel that they can contact their parents for help at any time. They can do this only if they do not fear punishment.

If young people feel they will be punished because they are drunk or under the influence of drugs, they will not call their parents. They will be secretive about their movements and take part in dangerous activities-and to dangerous extents. It must be realised that, in most cases, the dangers of alcohol use are not necessarily the alcohol or drug use itself, but where the alcohol is consumed and the behaviour of the young person when under the influence.

I am in no way discounting the dangers of underage alcohol abuse, especially when it is noted that one in five people aged 12 to 20 are considered to be binge drinkers, and that 40 per cent of people aged 16 to 24 drink at levels which place them at risk of short-term harm. I realise that the largest social problems are young people drinking in alleyways or at the parties of strangers; young people drink-driving; young people drinking alone and getting sick-and young people drinking and provoking violence.

These are very real social issues and social problems-not only for young persons and their parents, but for society as a whole. When a young person gets drunk, drives a car

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