Harry Quick (Franklin, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1)

acknowledges the fact that alcohol misuse remains the number one health and social issue confronting the Australian community;

(2)

expresses its appreciation to the Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation Foundation for its outstanding efforts to date in raising public awareness of the dangers of alcohol and licit substance misuse and the importance of responsible consumption of alcohol;

(3)

notes the effectiveness of the grants program administered by the Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation Foundation over the past four years;

(4)

notes in particular the work of the Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation Foundation in addressing the scourge of inhalant abuse among young indigenous Australians; and

(5)

calls on the Government to provide sufficient funding to the Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation Foundation’s Public Fund in the 2006-2007 Budget to enable the Foundation to continue its work in addressing the causes of, and harms arising from, alcohol and licit substance misuse.

I welcome the opportunity to raise this issue in the House today but regret that we only have time for two speakers. The issue raised in my motion is the No. 1 health and social issue facing our nation and yet is often overlooked when we as parliamentarians debate legislation and, more importantly, the allocation of finances for health. I have a particular interest in the issue because of my long involvement with the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Family and Community Affairs. The committee’s excellent report Roads to recovery, which reported on substance abuse in Australian communities, vividly documented the impact of alcohol misuse on our society. I urge all members of this place to read this report, examine the 128 recommendations and reflect on what action they might take to ensure that this vital issue is raised for discussion time and time again. It is sad to note that, despite this government’s fixation with the war on drugs, this excellent and somewhat provocative report has not yet seen a response from the government even though it was tabled in this House in August 2003.

The statistics on alcohol’s impact on Australia’s health are alarming: 30 per cent of road traffic deaths, 23 per cent of suicides, 51 per cent of assaults causing death, 44 per cent of fire injury deaths, 34 per cent of drownings, 15 to 20 per cent of head and neck cancers, 16 per cent of child abuse deaths, 23 per cent of mental disorder deaths, 35 per cent of industrial accidents—and the list goes on and on.

Many members in this place are probably not aware of the Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation Foundation with its key role in raising public awareness of the dangers of alcohol and the importance of responsible consumption of alcohol. Nor are they likely to be aware of the excellent grant program that it has been administering for the past four years. I would like to place on the public record my admiration and deep respect for the foundation’s wonderful work, carried out under its chairman, Professor Ian Webster, and its chief executive officer, Daryl Smeaton.

The foundation was set up in 2001 by the government with an initial grant of $115 million—money raised from the indexation of the excise on draught beer sales once the GST was brought into practice. The foundation was required to spend 80 per cent of the grant money by 30 June 2005. I am pleased to say this has been done. I would also urge all members to examine the foundation’s website, read at length the four annual reports and see at first hand just how effectively and widely the foundation has allocated and distributed its grant moneys.

These allocations range from funding for Mothers Crying Out for Help, a group which received $5,464 to enable 28 youths and 12 adults to attend a cultural event that demonstrated healthy alternatives to alcohol and other substances, through to the University of Queensland receiving $58,432 to examine the relationship between a range of family related influences and drink-driving behaviour in young adults and the YMCA at Katherine receiving $975,000 to develop strategies and programs for a whole-of-community approach to the problems of alcohol and licit substance misuse.

The foundation now has a budget submission before the government for continued funding of $20 million a year to enable it to continue this vital work across our nation. Some might argue that this is a huge amount to be asking for. I would counter this by saying that this amount is just 10 per cent of the excise raised from alcohol consumed by under-age drinkers. I call on the government to look favourably on the foundation’s budget submission so that it can continue its work in addressing the causes of, and harm arising from, alcohol and licit substance misuse.

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