Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Opposition small business spokesperson Marie-Clare Boothby has criticised the Liquor Commission for going after corner stores following the resignation of the chair

Transcript

Opposition small business spokesperson Marie-Clare Boothby has criticised the Liquor Commission for going after corner stores following the resignation of the chair · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Joining me on the line right now is the opposition
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: spokesperson for Business and various other portfolios, Marie Claire booth
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Be good morning.
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  Speaker 2: To you, Good morning, Katie, and to your listeners.
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  Speaker 1: Thanks so much for your time this morning. Now, Mary Claire,
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  Speaker 1: we have obviously learned this morning that the Northern Territory
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  Speaker 1: government's announced new appointments to the Liquor Commission. The Liquor
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  Speaker 1: Commission is one component of sweeping alcohol changes which have
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: taken place since twenty eighteen, is what they say. And
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  Speaker 1: Richard Coates, the Liquor Commissioner, retiring from that role as
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  Speaker 1: the chair. What's the opposition's take on this?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, Katie, that is interesting news from the Liquor Commission
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  Speaker 2: there to say that he's going to retire.
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  Speaker 1: Katie.
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  Speaker 2: What we do know is that this government's alcohol policies
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  Speaker 2: are in chaos and they really are all over the
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  Speaker 2: shop on alcohol policy. I mean, you only have to
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  Speaker 2: look at what's going on our springs and the comings
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  Speaker 2: and going there. I think the comments that the Liquor
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  Speaker 2: Commission made today about finding the corner stores like speaks
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  Speaker 2: to that government's priorities, you know, instead of going after
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  Speaker 2: problem drunks they're actually going after the mum and dad
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  Speaker 2: operators of corner stores, and like these coind of stores
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  Speaker 2: are crucial in our community. Like you go to them
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  Speaker 2: because you need something quick, like it's a milk or bread,
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  Speaker 2: and if you want to pick up a bottle of wine,
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  Speaker 2: you should be able to do that. There's a cap
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  Speaker 2: on there which is arbitrary of twenty five percent. What
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  Speaker 2: that means is they can't sell any alcohol above twenty
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  Speaker 2: five percent of their total income. So what that does
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  Speaker 2: means that finds it really hard to operate a business,
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  Speaker 2: especially in our regions. You know, like Matteranka store for example,
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  Speaker 2: is one of these ones that look like they might
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  Speaker 2: have to close because they can't operate under this environment.
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  Speaker 2: And the problem with this is that there's no evidence showing
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  Speaker 2: that this twenty five percent cap has actually improved alcohol
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  Speaker 2: related harm statistics.
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  Speaker 1: And so this was obviously an announcement that the Northern
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  Speaker 1: Territory government or it was a decision that was made
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  Speaker 1: by the Northern Territory government. And so now what it's
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  Speaker 1: looking as though if if there are liquor stores that
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  Speaker 1: don't adhere to those regulations, that they are going to
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  Speaker 1: be fined.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, that's what they're saying, and I wonder if
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  Speaker 2: that's part of the reason that the Liquor Commissioners is
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  Speaker 2: moving away from this role. I mean, there was talk
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  Speaker 2: of the fact that, you know, there's a tension between
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  Speaker 2: the Department of Business and the lquer Commission. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: liquors should list, liquor licensing, should have enforcement. They shouldn't
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  Speaker 2: be you know, running businesses as such. And we know
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  Speaker 2: that these small stores, you know, they don't stuck up
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  Speaker 2: without alcohol, and you know, there's such an important role
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  Speaker 2: to play in. And if Fatasha Philes put more resources
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  Speaker 2: into the Liquor Commission for enforcement and actually cracking down
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  Speaker 2: on operators that were doing the wrong thing, then they
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  Speaker 2: wouldn't have to go after every single small supermarket who
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  Speaker 2: are genuinely trying to do the right thing.
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  Speaker 1: Well, we are going to catch up with the outgoing
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  Speaker 1: Liquor Commissioner at about ten forty five this morning. We'll
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  Speaker 1: see what we can find out. But Marie Claire, by
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  Speaker 1: the sounds of things, I mean, would I would, I
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  Speaker 1: guess expect the opposition to say that things are in
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  Speaker 1: a state of chaos when it comes to some of
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  Speaker 1: these alcohol restrictions. And different concerns that we've got around
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  Speaker 1: the place at this point, but you really do feel
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  Speaker 1: that it's a state.
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  Speaker 2: Of chaos absolutely. I mean, the statistics speak for themselves,
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  Speaker 2: but then when you add the actual feeling, you know,
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  Speaker 2: in our communities, in our town centers, our shopping centers,
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  Speaker 2: on our buses, like it's alcohol is a huge problem.
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  Speaker 2: And instead of dealing with the root causes of this
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  Speaker 2: and dealing with the problem drunks, what we have is
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  Speaker 2: a government who is throwing resources at trying to punish
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  Speaker 2: those that aren't doing the wrong thing.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I'll be interested to see exactly what he's got
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  Speaker 1: to say today, what thetgoing Liquor Commissioner has to say now,
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  Speaker 1: Marie Claire, I'm not sure if you've seen, and obviously
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  Speaker 1: I want to be quite careful in terms of what
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  Speaker 1: we say here around the legalities of this story. But
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  Speaker 1: there is quite an explosive story in the Northern Territory
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  Speaker 1: and the Anti Independent today in relation to NT politics.
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  Speaker 1: Now it is in relation to Labour's candidate for the
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  Speaker 1: upcoming by election. We have sort of response from both
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  Speaker 1: the Chief Minister's office and also the Labor Party. But
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  Speaker 1: have you had a look at that article and what
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  Speaker 1: do you make of it, Katie.
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  Speaker 2: It is certainly a concerning story and if this is true,
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  Speaker 2: it does raise some very serious integrity questions for the
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  Speaker 2: Chief Minister. I mean, these are questions that should be
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  Speaker 2: put to the Chief Minister regarding her candidate and she
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  Speaker 2: should answer them. Well.
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  Speaker 1: We have certainly put some questions to the Chief Minister's office.
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  Speaker 1: We are yet to get a response from them. And
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  Speaker 1: I know that it probably sounds like we're talking in
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  Speaker 1: coded words today for our listeners in relation to this story.
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  Speaker 1: But I do just want to be careful about what
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  Speaker 1: we say and we will certainly see if we can
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  Speaker 1: get a response from the Northern Territory Chief Minister on
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  Speaker 1: that one. Murray Claire. The other big story of the
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  Speaker 1: last couple of days is the fact that the Northern
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  Speaker 1: Territory Police Association is calling for an additional three hundred police.
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  Speaker 1: It follows comments made by the Deputy Commissioner Murray small
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  Speaker 1: Page in the Coronial which is currently underway. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: three hundred extra police. Where is the government going to
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  Speaker 1: find the money for that?
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  Speaker 2: I know, Okatie. And on the same day that we
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  Speaker 2: find out that they need three out of more police
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  Speaker 2: officers and they are looking for five hundred million more
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  Speaker 2: worth of funding. We hear of another budget blowout, I
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  Speaker 2: mean another project Tiger Brennan Drive that's one hundred million
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  Speaker 2: dollars over and they really just have only started. And
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  Speaker 2: then we had Paul Kirby, the Minister for Business when
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  Speaker 2: after about concessions the Veterans said that everything is under
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  Speaker 2: threat on a daily basis in the Northern Territory with
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  Speaker 2: our budget. I mean they were his words. I mean
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  Speaker 2: everything is under threat. I mean this government is literally
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  Speaker 2: paying a million dollars a day to service a nine
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  Speaker 2: billion dollar debt and our police are in absolute crisis.
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  Speaker 2: They are absolutely broken. The COLP has tried five times
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  Speaker 2: for an inquiry into our police force, only to be
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  Speaker 2: voted down during Parliament. We need an immediate inquiry into
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  Speaker 2: the police force because what we need to do is
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  Speaker 2: determined exactly what's going on and what is needed to
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  Speaker 2: support them. That also means, Katie, stronger laws. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: like our ministry is centencing laws for those who as
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  Speaker 2: solved police. I mean we need all these laws in
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  Speaker 2: place and without them it'll continue to be in crisis.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Marie Claire Boosey, we are going to have to
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  Speaker 1: leave it there. We always appreciate your time. I think
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  Speaker 1: we're saying you tomorrow for the week that was as well.
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  Speaker 1: Is that wrong?
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  Speaker 2: I look forward to it.
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  Speaker 1: We see you then, Thank you.