Queensland has taken another step towards ending its prohibition on alcohol in remote Indigenous communities, with restrictions being eased in Pormpuraaw, on Cape York.
The community of about 600 people on the western coast of Cape York is among 15 local government areas in Queensland where alcohol is restricted and was among a handful in which it was banned entirely.
That changed this month, almost 20 years after the ban was first introduced in an attempt to curb alcohol-fuelled violence, amid concerns it had instead led to unintended consequences including giving rise to a black market known as the sly grog trade.
People in Pormpuraaw will now be allowed the equivalent of 12 cans of mid-strength beer or pre-mix, although a ban on home brew will remain.
The changes, made by the state government, came at the request of the local council and were supported by many people and key stakeholders in the community.
Pormpuraaw Community Justice Group’s Josephine Szilagi said the ban had been imposed from the outside and resulted in unnecessary criminal records.
“Over years and years we’ve had people going through the court system and they are [regarded as] criminals now for something that, in the ‘normal cities’, you would not have even gone to court for,” she said.
Szilagi said lifting the ban on alcohol should be a step towards entirely removing restrictions in Pormpuraaw in a gradual process that would encourage healthier drinking habits.
Indigenous communities have been moving away from bans as a means of addressing alcoholism over the last decade, in a push towards focusing instead on providing health and support services that has won the support of the Queensland government.
On Tuesday the state’s Aboriginal and Torres Islander Partnerships minister Craig Crawford said the Palaszczuk government was working with the remote Indigenous communities regarding alcohol restrictions.
“Alcohol-related harm is a critical issue,” he said.
“Local leaders in many communities have expressed an interest in accessing a safe and regulated supply of alcohol to reduce the high levels of harm from binge drinking, sly grog and home brew.”
“All 15 councils have developed community safety plans, which articulate their community-specific priorities to improve safety and wellbeing, particularly for women, children and the elderly.”
Mornington Island’s mayor, Kyle Yanner, told the Cairns Post in August that prohibition had “failed everywhere” and “done more dramas than good”, as his community campaigned for a licensed tavern.
“People started making home brew with the yeast from Vegemite … and it’s wreaked havoc to our health and to the rates of antisocial behaviour and domestic violence,” he said.
“The worst part about it … we had people move away from our home to places like Mt Isa because they became dependent on alcohol.”
Prohibition remains in place in Aurukun, Lockhart River, Napranum, Woorabinda and Wujal Wujal.
The lifting of prohibition in Pormpuraaw comes after a parliamentary inquiry last month recommended Queensland join other Australian states and decriminalise public intoxication while removing criminal offences for begging and public urination.
Queensland police data shows Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are “significantly overrepresented” among those charged with the three offences, while the report in cited research shows “a strong correlation between intoxication and higher risk a person will die in custody”.
