Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Darwin Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis is calling for grog to be removed from corner stores saying it’ll further restrict supply, reducing violence

Transcript

Darwin Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis is calling for grog to be removed from corner stores saying it’ll further restrict supply, reducing violence · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Obviously you would have heard earlier in the week the
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Mayor of Catherine, Liz Clark. She joined us on the
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: show to talk about alcohol restrictions. Now she wants to
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: see restrictions across in Northern Territory if they are going
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: to continue with the min Alla Springs, because I guess
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  Speaker 1: everybody's quite concerned that if you continue with them in
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  Speaker 1: Alla Springs, are people going ahead to places like Darwin
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  Speaker 1: and Catherine to access alcohol. Now, last night, I know
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: that ABCTV spoke to leader's intenant KRAI could also raised
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  Speaker 1: the same concerns. Joining me in the studio right now
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  Speaker 1: is the Lord Mayor of Darwin, Combat Scarlas.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning, Cold, Come morning Kit.
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  Speaker 3: And first of all, I would like to apologize to
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  Speaker 3: their listeners. They're going to listen to me once again,
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  Speaker 3: me and you talking about the same thing that we've
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  Speaker 3: been talking the past year, alcohol and alcohol problems. I
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  Speaker 3: hate to say I told you so, but we actually
• 0:46
  Speaker 3: hear me and you were telling this is going to happen.
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: It was predictable, and we knew and we said it's
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  Speaker 3: going to happen, and it's happening. And I say, and
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  Speaker 3: I was the first one who raised the issue of
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  Speaker 3: if you're going to put restrictions in one place in
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  Speaker 3: the territory, you have to consider what will happen. You're
• 1:02
  Speaker 3: going to have a migration of drunks to other places,
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  Speaker 3: from Alice Springs to Tennant Creek or even to Catherine.
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  Speaker 3: And okay, that's a bit bigger than those two places.
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  Speaker 3: But can imagine two hundred drunks descending on Tenna Creek
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  Speaker 3: or in Katherine.
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  Speaker 2: What will happen? It is the whole thing is terrible.
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  Speaker 3: The chief means to did the I think putting these
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  Speaker 3: restrictions straight away to Alice Springs to provide a circuit breaker,
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  Speaker 3: But somebody in the fifth floor should be thinking what
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  Speaker 3: happened the day after this one finishes. We have to
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  Speaker 3: have a plan in place, because obviously nobody had a
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  Speaker 3: plan in place when the legislation to prohibit alcoholic communities
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  Speaker 3: came down.
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  Speaker 1: Well, con I actually wonder whether the decision is going
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  Speaker 1: to be made for them, whether the Prime Minister is
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  Speaker 1: going to have to step in here and make the
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  Speaker 1: tough decision for them over the top of things, because
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  Speaker 1: quite frankly, this has become a national process.
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  Speaker 3: I will be disappointed. If Canberra make decision for territorians.
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  Speaker 3: We've got the government, well this come he has to
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  Speaker 3: stand up and make the descis decision. It's not difficult.
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  Speaker 3: If they ask Chris Burns, who was a minister before.
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  Speaker 3: He knows about al go inside out. But nobody seems
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  Speaker 3: to want to talk to people with experience. Have they
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  Speaker 3: spoken to handle, to clear, to anybody who was there before,
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  Speaker 3: because what did happen? Now we've seen it before and
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  Speaker 3: when we're in government, we took measures.
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  Speaker 2: Come on, we need to.
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  Speaker 1: Listen to the to the you know, to the groups
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  Speaker 1: like you've got Congress, You've got they we just spoke to.
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  Speaker 3: When you've got the person who's in charge of Congress
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  Speaker 3: threatening to leave town because he's scared to live there, guys, alarm.
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  Speaker 2: Bells would be ringing the fifth floor all the time.
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  Speaker 2: It's not difficult. Just get real.
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  Speaker 3: Just put some real restrictions in place. And I have
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  Speaker 3: said how many times you asked me and how many
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  Speaker 3: times I told you, Let's hit the problem in its roots.
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  Speaker 2: Let's actually restrict supply of alcohol.
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  Speaker 3: There are a lot of little corner stores that survived
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  Speaker 3: selling alcohol.
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  Speaker 2: Governments should buy the license. End of story.
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  Speaker 4: The thing is gone.
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  Speaker 1: I mean there's already really strict sort of regulations in
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  Speaker 1: place for enforced. Well the police do, don't they, you know,
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  Speaker 1: to make sure.
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  Speaker 2: That people are anymore well.
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  Speaker 4: You know, look, the two.
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  Speaker 1: Kilometer rule I think everybody can see is quite fascical
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  Speaker 1: at this point in time. And as much as the
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  Speaker 1: government says, oh it's being you know, it is enforced
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  Speaker 1: and it's still.
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  Speaker 4: In place, all of us can it doesn't take you
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  Speaker 4: much of a big water.
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  Speaker 3: That means the big companies that can buy wine three
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  Speaker 3: dollars a bottle, sell it for eleven, make an eight
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  Speaker 3: dollar profit.
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  Speaker 2: Now, why these companies are not forced.
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  Speaker 3: To have liquor inspectors outside their store, proper liquid inspectors.
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  Speaker 3: You know, the big big retail company, alcohol retail company
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  Speaker 3: in Darwin has got to not challenge policy. So if
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  Speaker 3: you walk in and still a bottle of wine, they're
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  Speaker 3: securitors will not challenge, You'll let you go.
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  Speaker 1: I've seen the security guards actually stop people when they
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  Speaker 1: have the other the other locations. But look, I you know,
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  Speaker 1: I get what you're saying when it comes to, you know,
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  Speaker 1: to the restrictions with some of those corner stores and
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  Speaker 1: things like that.
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  Speaker 4: But I do like to me, I think to.
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  Speaker 1: Myself, if somebody wants to get their hands on alcohol,
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  Speaker 1: they're gonna get their hands on alcohol, whether there's a
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  Speaker 1: corner store or not.
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  Speaker 2: Skait, Why doesn't happen down south?
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  Speaker 3: Why when you go to Melbourne you don't see this
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  Speaker 3: level of drunkenness on the streets and the second supply
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  Speaker 3: of alcohol. Now I reckon we should have a summit
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  Speaker 3: and not a referendum. We should he have a summit
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  Speaker 3: with people not from down south, not do goodness people.
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  Speaker 3: They are exposed to the problems in the territory. Have
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  Speaker 3: some of the experts Roll Packer was the one who
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  Speaker 3: spoke to you about it. People they know about alcohol.
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  Speaker 3: Because cutting alcohol from alcoholics, you're going to create a problem.
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  Speaker 3: Because these people need alcohol to survive day to day.
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  Speaker 3: They will try to get alcohol. They resort to all
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  Speaker 3: sorts of things to get their hands into alcohol. Let's
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  Speaker 3: have looking CLP many years ago.
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  Speaker 2: They make a decision.
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  Speaker 3: If your code out drunk for three or four times,
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  Speaker 3: you go and locked in.
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  Speaker 1: For fourteen days alcoholism was you were there, you had
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  Speaker 1: a holiday, fully paid holiday for fourteen days, came out
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  Speaker 1: with an account full of money from welfare.
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  Speaker 3: First thing you did when to liquor store because there
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  Speaker 3: was no support. They weren't support for the peop where
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  Speaker 3: they came out.
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  Speaker 4: So what do you reckon we need to do rehab?
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  Speaker 2: Who should I actually look at these people?
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  Speaker 3: How not only lock them away, but how can you
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  Speaker 3: support to get out of the addiction? Another and another example,
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  Speaker 3: why do you have to have access to alcohol? Take
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  Speaker 3: away alcohol from ten am to the NPM restrictly said
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  Speaker 3: the time of sale.
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  Speaker 1: You've actually raised that before, But Conn, I do want
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  Speaker 1: to ask you, do you think that we need to
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  Speaker 1: be in a situation here If we've got our spring
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  Speaker 1: set Mondays and Tuesdays or alcohol take away alcohol free days,
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  Speaker 1: should that be right across the border around the Northern Territory.
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  Speaker 3: I believe so, because otherwise you're going to see an
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  Speaker 3: influx of drunks in Darwin and in Catherine and Attennant Creek,
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  Speaker 3: and I'll be spending all our time cleaning up broken
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  Speaker 3: glass and having to address fighting inside. I mean, there
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  Speaker 3: was another issiudent yesterday in Willis in the city. I
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  Speaker 3: don't go to Wilis anymore.
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  Speaker 2: In the city.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I was like even yesterday my goddaughter who's fourteen
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  Speaker 1: years old, was abuse spy drunk at one o'clock in
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  Speaker 1: the afternoon in the city.
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  Speaker 3: But to me that is perhaps, and I know they're
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  Speaker 3: going to go, oh my god, up in the fifth floor.
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  Speaker 3: Perhaps being drunk in a public place is an offense,
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  Speaker 3: But you don't go to prison. You go to a
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  Speaker 3: special place that actually you taught some skills too, not
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  Speaker 3: only being they enjoying three meals a day, air conditioned shower,
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  Speaker 3: but you do something for you with yourself so you
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  Speaker 3: don't get bored.
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  Speaker 1: So con if it was up to you right now,
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  Speaker 1: for you know, for Darwin, you think we need to
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  Speaker 1: have a summers You think that those alcohol restrictions you
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  Speaker 1: need to come right across so big.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, look, we talk about alcohol, does anybody talk
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  Speaker 3: about the victim of alcohol. All these kids in Alice
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  Speaker 3: Springs are out there because parents are absolutely pissed. They
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  Speaker 3: can't look after them. And these kids say feel safer
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  Speaker 3: at the streets at home. Do we talk about the
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  Speaker 3: women they're beaten up because their partner's bloody drunk. The
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  Speaker 3: kids have been neglected, the kids that are left without foot,
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  Speaker 3: These are the real victims. Okay, there's still the story
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  Speaker 3: of terrible. I agree with you, But think about how
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  Speaker 3: many kids are actually going to bed hungry or don't
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  Speaker 3: even go to bed, don't go to school. How many
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  Speaker 3: women bitter are because of alcohol. We need a summit
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  Speaker 3: because this is a territory emergency.
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  Speaker 1: Well, this is the thing, you know, at the moment,
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  Speaker 1: we're all talking about Alice Springs, and rightly so, there
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  Speaker 1: is a crisis going on in Alice Springs right now,
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  Speaker 1: but there is also serious issues right around the northern territory,
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  Speaker 1: right across the top end. Indeed, here in Darwin, you
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  Speaker 1: and I have spoken nearly every week of last year
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  Speaker 1: about issues with crime, about issues with antisocial behavior, about
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  Speaker 1: issues with you know, with alcohol. There needs to be
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  Speaker 1: some really serious change and there's got to be some
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  Speaker 1: really serious discussions and action.
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  Speaker 3: And we need to look into ourselves. When you've got
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  Speaker 3: counsel a little in Alice Springs and indigenous men who
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  Speaker 3: comes out and call about his own community to get
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  Speaker 3: control of the situation. So the digital community themselves know
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  Speaker 3: they've got a problem and they're calling out now to
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  Speaker 3: sit around and oh yeah, okay, we'll stop selling alcohol.
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  Speaker 3: Mad on Tuesday and then what are we doing after that?
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  Speaker 4: Con Rob has messaged through.
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  Speaker 1: He's wondering why should he be impacted by grog restrictions
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  Speaker 1: if he wants grog to go fishing on a certain day.
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  Speaker 2: Rob, I know what you mean.
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  Speaker 3: However, nothing stops you buying your alcohol the day before
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  Speaker 3: or the day after. If we're going to actually solve
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  Speaker 3: the problem, we probably have to do some sacrifice. I'm
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  Speaker 3: quite happy to go to buy my alcohol the day
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  Speaker 3: before and not heavy in alcohol buying alcohol one day
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  Speaker 3: if we're not going to see less drunks in the streets,
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  Speaker 3: less violence, and less problems.
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  Speaker 1: Corn, are you worried at this point that we're going
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  Speaker 1: to see an influx of people into Darwin? Are you
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  Speaker 1: concerned as the mayor of Darwin that we're going to
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  Speaker 1: see an influx of people.
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  Speaker 2: In the past few months, we've seen it continuous.
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  Speaker 3: As a migration of people from communities to dow for
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  Speaker 3: various reasons. We even see people coming from communities they
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  Speaker 3: sell alcohol because they want to hear real alcohol rather
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  Speaker 3: than mid strength. We've seen people sitting in the street
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  Speaker 3: paying about five hundred dollars a bottle for a bottle
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  Speaker 3: of bandy because there's second supply. Don't tell me you
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  Speaker 3: can't stop second supply. If you don't stop second supply,
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  Speaker 3: might as well get rid of the VideA.
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  Speaker 2: You've got a really good tool you can use.
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  Speaker 3: But they've got the excuse about privacy or not the
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  Speaker 3: government mainly public servants. And I said, bullshit. If you
• 9:22
  Speaker 3: break the law, you don't have the entirement of privacy.
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  Speaker 3: Use the DA effectively make it work for us. Make
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  Speaker 3: the liquor industry that sells alcohol makes a lot of
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  Speaker 3: money to pay for their own inspectors rather than the
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  Speaker 3: tax base pay for it. Restrict the sale of alcohol.
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  Speaker 3: If you go to Canada, you go to liquor store.
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  Speaker 3: That liquor store owned by the government. So there are
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  Speaker 3: strict controls in Canada. Oh well, well, I don't look,
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  Speaker 3: I don't have a problem. It's like the farmacy owned
• 9:48
  Speaker 3: by the government. So we don't sell drugs illegal drugs.
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  Speaker 3: Not that I said the pharmacies do it. But sometimes
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  Speaker 3: we have to have some thinking outside the square.
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  Speaker 2: It's a good idea.
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  Speaker 1: Before I let you go this morning, we have been
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: content to buy a couple of people earlier in the
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: week about shuttle buses for cruise ships.
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  Speaker 2: So why.
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  Speaker 3: That's actually controlled by the crew the cruise industry itself.
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  Speaker 2: They organized them, they hire them.
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  Speaker 3: There was initially lately that they decided not to pay
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: for these three buses, so they didn't happen. However, Casino
• 10:19
  Speaker 3: Shopping Square decided to have their own buses took the
• 10:21
  Speaker 3: people to cas Areina. That means the CBD missed out
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  Speaker 3: on a lot of the people that were going to
• 10:25
  Speaker 3: go around the CBD buying things. It's something unfortunately the
• 10:29
  Speaker 3: cruise industry themselves organized. We like to encourage them to
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  Speaker 3: continue to do so, and certainly would like them to
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: do so, but it's their commercial decision.
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  Speaker 1: You have lost for the CB data I did to
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: not have people walking through there.
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  Speaker 2: And that's what I said.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, come on, guys, you come to down to
• 10:45
  Speaker 3: see down when you take them the shopping center, is
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: that what you're going to show about that we.
• 10:50
  Speaker 5: Well, who knows well might industry to shop the shopping
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  Speaker 5: center or Caserina's much smarter than some our people in
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  Speaker 5: the association, Going Darwin, I think we're should step up,
• 11:03
  Speaker 5: all of us.
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  Speaker 2: I can't see it's your fault. No, No, let's all
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: work together to sory Doe Well.
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: Convat Scarlus, the Lord Mayor of Darwin, it is good
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  Speaker 1: to have you back in the studio for twenty twenty three.
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  Speaker 3: Apollows for the winds again. But the problem we'll face
• 11:15
  Speaker 3: at the moment, it's such a critical problem.
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  Speaker 1: We have to discuss it just very quickly on this summit.
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  Speaker 1: How soon do you want it to happen and do
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: you want it to be for all of the Northern territory.
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  Speaker 2: If I was a Schief Minister, I was you conted yesterday.
• 11:29
  Speaker 4: Convat Scarlets, thank you for your time this morning.