General News
9 October, 2024
EXCLUSIVE: Cross-border commissioner calls for tougher booze laws
Speaking in Mount Isa, Ian Leavers said he wants to make it less attractive for NT residents to come across the border.
Newly-appointed cross-border commissioner Ian Leavers wants tougher alcohol laws in Mount Isa to help the city reduce its itinerant problem.
Speaking to North West Weekly following a fact-finding mission to the city, Mr Leavers said he believed enforcing the Northern Territory’s banned drinker register in Mount Isa could be the first step towards reducing the number of people flowing across the border.
“Alcohol is a problem, and I think everyone should be entitled to a drink – but if someone is banned on one side of the border and the easy option is to come to Mount Isa because they have no restrictions – that becomes a problem,” he said.
“I have been to the NT, and I have done it myself – if I want to buy alcohol or have a drink in the bar, I have got to show ID.
“All too often I think the conversation never gets started – if it is working over in the NT and it is in place for a reason, then is it necessary here?”
Under a policy introduced in 2017, Northern Territory residents must show a valid ID when purchasing alcohol, which is checked by staff at the licensed premises against an online banned drinker register.
Police and courts can place an individual on the register, and problem drinkers can also be referred by social service providers, child protection and even family members.
NT police gained the power last year to issue on-the-spot seven-day bans.
Mr Leavers said his idea had received support during initial conversations with NT police commissioner Michael Murphy and that he planned to explore options to establish a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between relevant government agencies, including housing departments and law enforcement, on both sides of the border.
“Living in the riverbed is not sustainable in 2024 – no one accepts that,” Mr Leavers said.
“If you have housing in the NT then that’s where you should be. That’s the place of your residency.
“If you come across to Mount Isa for medical reasons, then we all obviously support that – but we need government agencies to be working together on this, because at the moment Mount Isa is doing the heavy lifting.”
Newly appointed NT Minister for Alcohol Policy Steve Edgington, who represents the sprawling electorate of Barkly that lines the Queensland border, said he welcomed the opportunity to work with Mr Leavers.
“I am acutely aware of the harmful effects and dangers of driving thousands of kilometres to access alcohol at Mount Isa,” Mr Edgington told North West Weekly.
“I welcome the opportunity for our government departments and NT Police to collaborate with the Queensland cross-border commissioner.”
With cross-border commissioners currently appointed in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, Mr Leavers said he would like to see the NT introduce a similar position.
Mr Leavers said he planned to regularly travel to the North West and did not believe it was necessary for a permanent staffed office for the cross-border commissioner to be established in Mount Isa.