Legislative Council Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1) 52 1 Parliament of South Australia Legislative Council published Question Time Liquor Licensing LIQUOR LICENSING The Hon. S.G. WADE Legislative Council LIQUOR LICENSING The Hon. S.G. WADE (14:55): I would like to clarify that the minister is telling us that the cost to the state is $1 billion in social costs, but her concluding remarks— The Hon. G.E. Gago Legislative Council The Hon. G.E. Gago: A billion. The Hon. S.G. WADE Legislative Council The Hon. S.G. WADE: —yes, a billion—suggested that not a cent of that was going to address the social cost of abuse and that it was all going into compliance and enforcement. Is the government more concerned about its own expenditure than the needs of the community? The Hon. G.E. GAGO Legislative Council Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises, Minister for the City of Adelaide The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises, Minister for the City of Adelaide) (14:55): He is outrageous, Mr President, and that is the scurrilous, mischievous scaremongering that I was talking about. In terms of the costs that I talked about—the costs of alcohol misuse to the community—it is $15.3 billion across Australia and the South Australian share of that is around $1 billion, not $1 million or whatever the honourable member misquoted. The response that I was giving was in relation to the industry sector saying that the contribution it makes in terms of taxes already covers the cost of alcohol. I was using those figures to quite clearly demonstrate that that is not true. They do not cover the cost of alcohol. This state contributes enormous amounts into the wide elements of alcohol misuse, which covers things such as violence, court costs, health costs, premature death and the productivity loss associated with alcohol misuse. Already this state contributes large amounts right across those areas. What we are saying, what I am proposing here, is a series of new measures, legislative and non-regulatory measures. I am saying there is no point putting in place new provisions unless we are prepared to police it and enforce it. Thus, we are looking at an enforcement, regulatory and compliance cost recovery system in terms of the liquor licensing components.