Harry Quick (Franklin, Independent) Share this | Link to 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.

Dick Adams (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Michael Johnson (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am pleased and honoured to second this motion. I want to commend my colleague the member for Franklin for moving this motion and recognise his reputation and integrity. Alcohol and licit substance misuse not only is a personal problem but also has enormous consequences for our wider society. Road accidents, criminal behaviour, domestic violence, health care costs, costs to businesses across this country, mental disorders, suicide and, as the member for Franklin mentioned, drownings are the absolutely catastrophic social consequences of the misuse and abuse of alcohol.

Research has estimated the financial cost of alcohol and licit substance abuse in Australia at around $7½ billion a year. To put this into context, the annual Australian budget is $220 billion. Our defence budget, which the new Minister for Defence, Brendan Nelson, has stewardship over, is some $18½ billion. So almost one-third of the expenditure of the defence budget can be said to be the cost of the abuse of alcohol and licit substances—an enormous amount. This is something which all of us must try to address in our own ways and as a parliament.

Between 1992 and 2001, over 30,000 Australians lost their lives from drinking. High-risk alcohol consumption is estimated to cause about 3,000 deaths and 65,000 cases of hospitalisation each year. Alcohol is estimated to be responsible for almost five per cent of the disease burden in this country. Globally, we know that alcohol is estimated to be responsible for some two million deaths per annum. Excessive alcohol consumption is a major factor in 30 per cent of all road deaths, 50 per cent of cases of domestic and sexual violence, 47 per cent of assaults, 70 to 80 per cent of night-time assaults and 10 per cent of suicides. Every year alcohol misuse costs Australian businesses and productivity an enormous amount: $5 billion in alcohol related absenteeism, $1.9 billion in the loss of workplace productivity and more than 10 per cent of preventable injury and death in the workplace.

I refer the parliament to a quote from the Age of 9 January this year. It is interesting and revealing about where the trend in the liquor market in this country is going:

The liquor market is booming. A prosperous economy and buoyed consumer confidence have seen products at the top end of the market making significant gains.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows that our fellow Australians have increased their spending on alcohol substantially in the past decade. The average household spent almost $1,200 a year on alcohol in 2003-04—up from $884 in 1993-94. These figures are worrying. It is important that I draw the attention of the House to that matter. One of my concerns is that consumers have easier access to alcohol than I think is healthy for this country. Woolworths’s annual liquor revenue is absolutely astounding. I understand that it exceeded $3.1 billion in 2005, an amazing figure. After last year’s $1.3 billion acquisition of Australian Leisure and Hospitality, Woolworths was a logical buyer of the Taverner business, which is only going to continue to expand its revenue sources. This is a substantial concern.

I conclude by paying tribute to Alcoholics Anonymous, which is a fine organisation. (Time expired)

Dick Adams (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The time allocated for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.