Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Matt Hepworth spoke with Sky News Matt Cunningham

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Matt Hepworth spoke with Sky News Matt Cunningham · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Matt Hepworth's filling Intricating Wolves. A report in the NT
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: News this morning reveals increases in grog related hospital presentations
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: in the top end have cast doubt on the effectiveness
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: of the anti government's alcohol flaw price. It's an exclusive
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: report by Matt Cunningham and he joins me on the line. Now,
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: get a matte, good mate, before we get into this
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: report around alcohol related hospital admissions. What a day in
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: parliament yesterday.
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: Well it's like that every day these days, isn't it.
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: It's like the good old days.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: Oh, it's never a dull moment. And jeez, that passionate
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: speech from Leah Finocchiaro after the government knock backed their
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: proposed bal reforms. It was a passionate one.
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: Well, she's been on the trunk foot about this issue.
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, it's interesting. It's interesting. It's an interesting debate.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: There's obviously plenty of people who've got plenty of things
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: to say. I suppose the question is whether anything changes
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: and anything gets stick.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah, well, certainly not anytime soon. Now we know the
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: government's reforms that they're proposing won't hit Parliament until later
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: in the year. Now, it so be a watch and
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  Speaker 1: wait for that. You'll report in the NT News today
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: the headline floor Price flowed. Increases in grog related hospital
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: presentations in the top end have cast doubt on the
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: effectiveness of the anti government alcohol floor price Map.
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  Speaker 2: Well, that's right, Maria. I mean it covers no surprise
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: to people anywhere in the territory at the moment that
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: there's been a sharp increase in alcohol related harm. But
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  Speaker 2: so what we've done down is track What we've done
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: is track down the latest alcohol related hospital presentation data. Now,
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: one thing that the researchers who've been looking into this
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: stuff have been pretty clear about is to get the
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: best gauge on the floor price, you need to look
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: at the data from Darwin and Parmison because up in
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  Speaker 2: the top end we don't have some of those other
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: measures in place, in particular the permanent police presence on
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: the bottle shops for Talis. So when you look at
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: this data, you can see that basically since the four
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: price came in, if you combine the Darwen and Partmentan hospitals,
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: there's been an increase. There was a five point five
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: percent increase in the first twelve months in the hospital.
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  Speaker 2: The later emergency department sorry in alcohol related emergency department
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  Speaker 2: presentation in Darwen and Parlasan. That's in the first twelve
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  Speaker 2: months after the full price came in, and a subsequent
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: eleven percent year on year increase in the second year
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: that the four prices come in. So you'd have to
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: say that the trend there is going up. Now. The
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: government's pointing to the coronavirus stimulus payment and we know
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: that this has been something that we talked about previously
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: and we know it's having quite a big impact. Although
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: there are others who were saying, well, if you look
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: at this data and you can see that even before
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: those stimulus payments came into plane, there was an increase
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: in those emergency department presentations after the full price were introduced.
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: Man, wasn't there some research earlier this year or late
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: last year. I think it was from a university that
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: suggested alcohol related harm was actually down.
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  Speaker 2: Well, this is interesting, Mattie, because there was a piece
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  Speaker 2: that was published on the Conversation website only last month
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  Speaker 2: that was talking about the floor price being a success
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  Speaker 2: and the fact that and the authors of this piece
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  Speaker 2: are actually suggesting and they were from Deacon University suggesting
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: that the floor price should be rolled out nationally based
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: on the success in the Northern Territory. Now, they were
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: basing that argument on the fact that there'd been a
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: sharp reduction in the sales of cast wants. What people
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: on the ground and even police are telling us is
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: that and those researchers were arguing that there hadn't been
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: a substitution. Now we're hearing a very different story, both
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: from the hospitality industry and from the Northern Territory Police.
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: I spoke to Alex Bruce from Hospitality and TA yesterday
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: and he said that they're businesses on the ground say
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: that there was an immediate switch from cast wine to
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: bottled wine and bottled spirits, in particular Bundy Rum. I
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: spoke to the Police Commissioner a couple of weeks ago
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: when I was talked when we were talking about the
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: COVID stimulus payments, and he said police is seen a
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  Speaker 2: serious shift from both cast wine and beer to those
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  Speaker 2: heavier products and Bundy rum was one that he mentioned
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: as well. And we're also seeing that product sold on
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  Speaker 2: the black market secondary supply, and the Police commission said
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  Speaker 2: it's been selling for up to nine hundred dollars a bottle.
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  Speaker 2: So I think that there is a growing body of
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  Speaker 2: evidence that suggests that even though people are not drinking
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: as much cast wine anymore, they're drinking other products and
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  Speaker 2: we're seeing that harm still play out. And the front
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  Speaker 2: line of that is obviously in our hospitals, and in
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  Speaker 2: recent months they've never been busier.
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: That evidence, that hard evidence from police and hospitality and
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: tea would be, in addition to anecdotal evidence that we've
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: heard here on the show before of an increase in
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: mouthwashed bottles and vanilla essence bottles that people are consuming
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: in our local parks and streets.
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, Mattie, I mean, you know, we walk around town,
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  Speaker 2: you can see that sort of thing. So I've noticed
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: certainly more empty mouthwashed bottles around the place. And the
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: other thing is run off bottles. I was actually talking
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: to a cyclist this morning, and again it is anecdotal
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: evidence of hard evidence, but these are the stories that
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: he hears. I was talking to a cyclist this morning
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  Speaker 2: who said that there's being a huge increase in the
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: number of punctures that they're getting. He said he used
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: to get a puncher every six months. Now he's getting
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: one every two weeks because of the amount of broken
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  Speaker 2: glass that is now on the cycling paths and he reckons.
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  Speaker 2: The bike shops have never been busier when it comes
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  Speaker 2: to puncture repairs. So you know, there are all different
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: bits and pieces of stories that we hear. But I
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  Speaker 2: think what's important, though, Mattie, is that we are really
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  Speaker 2: clear around what data we use to assess these things
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: and therefore how we assess them now. I've got a
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: criticism of the government that when it brought these measurement
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: in the first place, it was a little bit vague
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: about how they would assess each one. I think that
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: alcohol related assaults and alcohol related hospital presentations are the
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: best way to show whether the reforms are working. And
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: I think if you look at alcohol related hospital presentations
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  Speaker 2: at the moment, you suggest that there is an issue
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: when it comes to the success of the policies that
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: have been implemented. Now there may be other factors at play,
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: and I think a big factor in this, and the
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: government says this, and I think they're right when they
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: say there's a big factor in this has been the
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: extra coronavirus stimulus payments. But at the same time we've
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: got the harshest restrictions when in the country, some of
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: the harshest in the world when it comes to alcohol
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  Speaker 2: here in the Northern Territory, and when they're up against
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: those extra payments, they really they haven't been able to
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: stop the extra harm that we're seeing from people consuming
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  Speaker 2: a lot of alcohol.
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: Matt. Is today's report proof that, I guess you can
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: take you and like you said that there's so many
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: broad measures of the government's alcohol policies that it is
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: hard to measure them. But it's today proof. I mean,
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: given the data you've got that suggests things are getting worse,
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: not better, but then the government rolls out data to
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: say things are getting better, not worse. That you can
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: manipulate statistics anyway you want to.
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: Well, I think that that is a definite. It's definitely
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: the case, Matt. You can absolutely, you know, manipulate spatistics
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: whatever way you want to. I mean, you know, some
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: may even accuse me of doing that in this story,
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: but I think that you know, what we've done here
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: has been pretty clear. We've been told that Darwin and
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: Palmerston is the best way to gauge the floor price,
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: in particular because those other measures are not here, and
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: when you look at Darwin and Palmerston, there's definitely been
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: an increase since the floor price has come in in
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  Speaker 2: alcohol related hospital presentation. Now there's one caveat, of course,
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: and that is that we saw the Palmerston Hospital come
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: online in August twenty eighteen. That means that now got
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: two hospitals instead of one. But I think it's fair
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: to combine the data from those two hospitals because people
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  Speaker 2: who would have been presenting it Palmerston are obviously now
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: presenting it roll as Darwin Hospital. And when you look
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: at those two hospitals together, there's certainly been an increase
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: since the four price came in.
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: Certainly will be well, matt Cunningham. Hopefully we'll see you
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: tomorrow for the week that was here. We've got a Cracker,
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: Leah finochi Aro, Kate Warden, yourself and Robin Laanley.
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I reckon I might be a silent observing there tomorrow, Mattie.
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: I could get a word in, but I'm sure they'll
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: be putting a fly with it.
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: Well, Look, if Katie's not back, it'll be you and
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: me both, I said to Ronnie before I said I
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: think I'll just turn the marks on and let them
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: do their thing for the hour.
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: That's probably good idea.
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: Good on you, Matte. We will catch up with you
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: again tomorrow. Thanks mate. Buy That is Sky News and
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: Anti News is Matt Cunningham there with a report in
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  Speaker 1: the paper today about these increases in grog related hospitalizations
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: in the top end. He says they've cast down on
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: the effectiveness of the Anti government's alcohol flaw price