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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
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LIQUOR LICENSING (SUPPLY TO MINORS) AMENDMENT BILL

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 15 November 2012.)

The Hon. R.B. SUCH (Fisher) (11:02): I just want to make some brief remarks without getting into too much detail. I support the member for Morialta because what he is seeking to do—and I understand there is going to be some discussion and amendments possibly down the track—is address an issue that our community has not been able to deal with adequately and that is the question of young people accessing and consuming alcohol. I think part of the problem at the moment is lack of enforcement across the board. I know there are inspectors; the police try to do some enforcement, but I think in general it is an area in which enforcement has been somewhat deficient.

For some time I tended to think in a fairly small 'l' liberal context of following the European model of having young people get used to alcohol with a sip at the dinner table and all that sort of thing. Increasingly, and more recently in my case, I have come to the view that I do not think that is a good idea. I have been influenced by experts who say that the brain is still developing and it is often not until the early 20s that the brain is fully formed and therefore it is not a good idea for children, in particular, to be consuming any alcohol whatsoever. It is a toxin. I am not a wowser; I enjoy a drink, but it is a toxin. There is no beneficial effect, that I am aware of, out of pure alcohol for the body, and certainly not for children.

We have within our society—and I know that this bill will not deal with it totally—the binge drinking mentality, where people seem to want to drink themselves silly, or drink themselves blind, whatever expression you want to use, and that is not the case in a lot of cultures. That is an issue we really need to address; that is, to steer people away from drinking themselves into oblivion and steer them more towards sensible, responsible consumption of alcohol.

We know that with alcohol products there are fantastic wines and beers, there are all sorts of things that, used appropriately, give a lot of pleasure and enjoyment to people, as well as creating a lot of employment. But as a society, as a culture, we have not really come to grips with the issue of alcohol consumption generally, and we have not come to grips with it in particular as it relates to young people.

The police are often left to try to be the remedial agents dealing with a problem they have not created themselves. If you look at the consequences of inappropriate use of alcohol—domestic violence, violence in general, murder, assault, poor behaviour on the roads, inappropriate driving and so on, the list goes on—alcohol is a very major contributor to crime and social dysfunction.

I commend the member for Morialta for what he is trying to do. This is not—and I do not think he would claim it to be—the total answer to issues relating to the inappropriate consumption of alcohol but, in particular, by focusing on minors, and if, through amendment and other input, we can get this measure right and in an improved form, I think it will go some way to helping us to deal with what is a very serious issue in our society and one that really needs urgent attention.

Debate adjourned on motion of Ms Chapman.

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