Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I move Greens amendment (1) on sheet 5382 revised:

(1)    Schedule 1, page 4 (after line 34), after item 6, insert:

6A  After section 19

Insert:

19A  Levy of sale of cheap liquor for consumption away from licensed premises

        (1)    A minimum price of 90 cents per standard drink must be charged.

        (2)    Alcohol products that cost more than 90 cents per standard drink for consumption away from the licensed premises are exempt from the levy mentioned in subsection (3).

        (3)    Alcoholic products that cost less than 90 cents per standard drink for consumption away from licensed premises are subject to a levy (to be known as the emergency response alcohol levy) of 25 cents per standard drink.

        (4)    The proceeds of the levy are payable to the Northern Territory Community Based Rehabilitation Fund.

Note:   The levy is imposed by the Northern Territory Emergency Response (Alcohol Levy Imposition) Act 2007.

19B  Establishment and purpose of the Northern Territory Community Based Rehabilitation Fund

        (1)    A Northern Territory Community Based Rehabilitation Fund is established to:

             (a)    disburse funds from the emergency response alcohol levy; and

             (b)    promote the health and welfare of the people of the Northern Territory.

        (2)    The Fund is a special account for the purposes of the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997.

19C  Credits to the Fund

        (1)    There must be credited to the Fund, amounts equal to amounts of emergency response alcohol levy imposed by the Northern Territory Emergency Response (Alcohol Levy Imposition) Act 2007.

        (2)    If interest is received by the Commonwealth from the investment of an amount standing to the credit of the fund, an amount equal to the interest must be credited to the fund.

19D  Purpose of the Fund

                 The purpose of the Fund is to make grants to persons to promote public health and welfare, including the construction and staffing of health and welfare facilities.

19E  Grant payments

        (1)    Grants from the Fund are to be determined by the Northern Territory Community Based Rehabilitation Fund established under 19B.

        (2)    Subject to this Act, further determination of grant payments, the operation of the fund and the operation of the board may be prescribed by regulation.

19F  Northern Territory Community Based Rehabilitation Fund Supervisory Board

        (1)    The Northern Territory Community Based Rehabilitation Fund Supervisory Board (The board is established).

        (2)    The board consists of:

             (a)    the chair who is to be the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory;

             (b)    two board members nominated by the Northern Territory Government; and

             (c)    three board members nominated by the Commonwealth.

        (3)    The chair has a casting vote in all deliberations of the board.

19G  Duty of chair

The chair must advise the Minister for Health and the Minister for Finance and Administration of grants determined by the board in accordance with section 19E.

19H  Appointment of chair and board members

        (1)    The chair is to be appointed by the Governor-General by written instrument.

        (2)    A board member is to be appointed by the Governor-General by written instrument.

        (3)    The chair or a board member holds office for the period specified in the instrument of appointment. The period must not exceed 3 years.

        (4)    A person is not eligible for appointment as a board member unless the person has a high level of expertise in the provision of public health services and the financing of health projects.

19I  Remuneration of board members

A board member is to be paid such remuneration and allowances as are prescribed by the regulations.

As I foreshadowed in my speech on the second reading, the Greens believe that the bringing in of this bill to seek to amend the Northern Territory national response package is an opportunity for the government to actually bring in some more comprehensive changes to deal with the issue of alcohol. I will not go through all the arguments again about why we believe we need a comprehensive strategy to reduce alcohol supply. This amendment seeks to put in place a levy on cheap alcohol, because that has been identified as one of the key issues that need to be dealt with to deal with the problem of alcohol. The levy only applies to alcohol where the purchase price is less than 90c per standard drink. Again, we are using evidence based work to determine that. A standard drink is defined in the liquor laws, and alcohol packaging needs to identify the number of standard drinks a product contains.

This series of amendments seeks to set up the structure for the levy. We understand the levy needs to be imposed by another act, so if these amendments were successful they would be introduced into the House of Representatives and could be named the Northern Territory Emergency Response (Alcohol Levy Imposition) Act 2007, as shown in the note in clause 19A. This appropriation bill needs to originate in the House of Representatives, and we will seek to have it drafted if these amendments are supported.

The proceeds of the levy would be used to create a Northern Territory community based rehabilitation fund, and the series of clauses in this amendment seeks to establish that fund. It also seeks to establish operational provisions under clauses 19C and 19I. Clause 19D outlines the purpose of the fund, which is to make grants to persons to promote public health and welfare, including the construction and staffing of health and welfare facilities. This goes to the other issues that I and other speakers have mentioned about the need for much more comprehensive rehabilitation, counselling and health services for people dealing with alcohol addiction and for people coming off alcohol, who need significant rehabilitation services. These amendments are designed to put the levy in place. As I have said, the international evidence clearly articulates that the price of alcohol is the key strategy that needs to be put in place to help reduce the supply of alcohol.

Can I take this opportunity to ask the minister: has the government considered the use of a pricing structure to help reduce the supply of alcohol?