Long-term alcohol restrictions in dozens of Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory are set to end in July, unless there's a last-minute extension to the laws by the federal government.
The NT Government said the lifting of the laws will mean 32 town camps, 12 remote communities and 215 homelands and outstations across the territory will soon be able to choose whether or not they want to have access to alcohol in their communities moving forward.
The bans came into force during the NT Emergency Response – known as the NT Intervention – in 2007, and have continued under Stronger Futures legislation since 2012.
While the laws will expire in two months' time, the Commonwealth has not publicly ruled out an extension, but did not say whether a decision would be made before the upcoming election.
Federal Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt said there were "multiple perspectives" on the laws "that need to be considered" before they decided whether or not to extend them.
But the NT Government said it was certain the laws would end.
NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner this week dubbed the restrictions as "racist" and said individual communities should be able to have freedom of choice on whether they wanted alcohol banned or not.
"Changes are going to happen, we're prepared for it," Mr Gunner said.
"People will be allowed to drink in certain parts of the Northern Territory where they're currently not allowed to drink … we're not going to be racist, we're going to work through that."
For some individuals and communities the Intervention had hugely detrimental effects.
But for Phillip Goodman, a Maranungu man and leader of 15 Mile camp, also known as Palmerston Indigenous Village, a community on the outskirts of Darwin, he said the bans had brought some respite from the scourge of alcohol-related violence at the time.
"When the Intervention came in, that sort of helped out a lot of Indigenous families [in 15 Mile] struggling with alcohol," said Mr Goodman.
"And that made my work on community pretty much easier. I felt safe.
"And now I feel gutted if this system is no longer going to exist."
Communities can self-impose bans
If the federal laws fold by July as is currently scheduled, the NT Government said communities and town camps under those restrictions would be able to "opt-in" to continue the bans for two more years.
"The two-year period will enable community-led processes to be undertaken to consider alcohol aspirations going forward," an NT government spokesman said.
Mr Goodman said his community would be among those opting to do so.
But the NT Government has also confirmed some remote communities have "expressed a desire for the return of alcohol in a managed way", following the cessation of the laws.
One such community is Barunga, near Katherine, where community members were successful in their bid for a social club liquor license, so people could have a drink closer to home and not be forced to pay exorbitant taxi fees or risk road accidents driving to nearby townships to access alcohol.
The NT Government said any community wanting to open up a licensed venue, like a sports or social club, would still have to go through a full licensing process with the liquor commission.
Consultation should've happened sooner
East Arnhem Regional Council CEO Dale Keehne was in a meeting discussing the end of Stronger Futures with government representatives on Tuesday, and said while he welcomed the consultation, there were still issues surrounding the changes which needed to be addressed.
"I think it would've been great to have had this made clearer, earlier," Mr Keehne said.
While some NT communities fall under the Stronger Futures legislation, others will remain dry under NT laws – and Mr Keehne said there was now talk to see if those bans should also be removed.
"It has opened up this issue about, then, well, do we consult with communities about revisiting the NT laws on this, on alcohol not being sold?" he said.
"Is it going to open a Pandora's Box by just going, 'hey, do you want to get rid of restrictions on alcohol [in those communities too]?' and we're not hearing anyone pushing on that."
A Menzies report released in 2019 showed the NT had the highest rates of alcohol consumption per capita in Australia, with correspondingly high rates of alcohol-fuelled violence and crime.
