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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-11-14 Daily Xml
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Adelaide Parklands

The Hon. J.S. LEE (Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (14:45): I seek leave to make an explanation before directing a question to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs on the topic of Adelaide Parklands dry area regulation.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.S. LEE: On 9 November, it was reported by InDaily that Adelaide City Council has resolved to ask the state government for an extension of the Adelaide Parklands dry area regulation for a further two years, until June 2025. However, council administration conceded that there are inadequacies in how the dry zones are being monitored and were concerned about the lack of data on the effectiveness of alcohol bans.

Adelaide City Council central ward councillor David Elliott has also stated, and I quote, 'this hasn't been a data informed policy from the start'. He goes on to state that there is 'a really deep sense from almost all the members of the Reconciliation Committee that this is a very targeted and a very race-based policy that has unequal outcomes and unhelpful outcomes for Aboriginal people'. My questions to the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs are:

1. Does the minister agree with the Reconciliation Committee's assessment that the implementation of the dry zones in the Adelaide Parklands is a targeted, race-based policy that has unequal and unhelpful outcomes for Aboriginal people?

2. Can the minister inform the chamber if the government is intending to extend the Adelaide Parklands dry area regulation?

3. Will the minister and the government commit to a monitoring and evaluation process of the dry zones to ensure that the program is actually effective at curbing alcohol-related problems in public areas and is not incurring a disproportionately negative impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (14:47): I thank the honourable member for her question. Policy responses such as dry zones apply equally to all people in a particular area. I know that for many years there have been dry zones right throughout metropolitan and indeed in some country areas, particularly foreshore areas, in regional South Australia.

Generally, dry zones are in the purview of the liquor licensing regime, and that comes under my colleague Minister Michaels, but I will be happy to talk to the minister in relation to where any specific application, as the honourable member has referred to, is at. In relation to specific dry zones such as those that apply around the Adelaide CBD, I have talked in this place a number of times about some of the complementary services that governments in the past—the previous Liberal government and this government—have run, particularly for Aboriginal people.

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