Australia‘s largest non-profit provider of health, St Vincent’s Health Australia, reckons that the Sydney lockout laws are a pretty damn decent model for the rest of Australia. The organisation is lobbying political parties hard on cracking down on alcohol – they want national lockout laws, a jacked up booze tax and graphic health warnings on labels.
They’ve released an ‘election wishlist’ of laws and regulations they want enacted to reduce alcohol-related illness and injury 20% by 2025.
Vinnies chief executive Toby Hall told The Guardian that this is the only way to reduce alcohol harm. “When you look across wider society, 15 people are dying every day due to alcohol-related issues and 430 a day are hospitalised. It’s having a massive impact on society and on the individual.”
He particularly likes the 10pm bottle-o lockout in New South Wales, and wants to see that particular regulation enacted nationwide. As anyone who lives in New South Wales will tell you, it’s a bit of an annoyance, to say the least. Their venue lockout calls for an end to drinks being served past 3am.
The Graun also spoke to the major parties to gauge their feeling on the Vinnies report. The Coalition – who implemented NSW’s controversial laws – said they have no interest in a national scheme, but are happy to allow state governments to implement alcohol laws, and they encourage them to do so.
Labor’s Stephen Jones told The Guardian that an increased legislative focus on alcohol was a good idea, and that they would “look closely” at the report as presented by St Vincents.
The Greens have already committed to a tax based on alcohol volume, and want to ban alcohol promotion in sports events and marketing. They have not made their position on lockouts clear, but Greens MPs like Jenny Leong have expressed opposition to lockout laws in the New South Wales context.
Nothing quite concrete in terms of law, but if you’re opposed to this stuff, it might no longer be a simple case of avoiding Sydney. These conversations are happening everywhere.
Source: The Guardian.
Photo: PEDESTRIAN.TV / Chloe Sargeant.
