PLEASE NOTE – ESPECIALLY THE NORTHERN TERRITORY

SCRIPTURAL TAKE ON EXCESSIVE RELIANCE ON ALCOHOL

(Various versions of Proverbs 20:1)

Treasury of Scripture

Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whoever is deceived thereby is not wise.

New International Version

Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise.

New Living Translation

Wine produces mockers; alcohol leads to brawls. Those led astray by drink cannot be wise.

Amplified Bible

Wine is a mocker, strong drink a riotous brawler, And whoever is intoxicated by it is not wise

Young’s Literal Translation

Wine is a scorner — strong drink is noisy, And any going astray in it is not wise.

Alcohol is the number one front-and-centre scourge in the Northern Territory. It is not going too far to say that the NT is a soak of beer, wines (usually fortified) and spirits.

The revenue governments make from the sale of alcohol pales insignificance compared to the costs of managing the consequences created by this insidious liquid.

I would go so far as to say that for every $1 raised by taxes on alcohol, $30 is spent in the Northern Territory on managing the fallout created by its consumption.

Consider:

* The cost of scores of PALS on bottleshop duty.

* The salary costs of police whose prime focus is on managing alcohol problems.

* The cost of ambulances, Careflight, paramedic salaries, medical staff salaries, ED and hospital beds to counter the

impacts of alcohol.

* Cost of grants and support given to support groups for ministration to alcohol-affected people.

* The cost of accommodation provided to house those impacted by alcohol.

* The cost of salaries and expenses incurred by the Department of Community and Families, whose staff often deal with the fallout of family/ community disruptions caused by alcohol.

* Cleaning and litter management cost left as an aftermath of drinking binges.

* Expenses incurred by city and town councils which must employ personnel to assist with managing those (and their families) affected by alcohol.

* Costs of supporting the Larrakeyah Nation and orther agencies with vehicle patrols seeking to support those in the long grass.

* Costs of the ‘return to country’ program. (Costs are supposed to be reimbursed but this wpould happen on very few occasions.)

* Costs of repairs to houses and community facilities damaged by fire and/or trashed during drunken rampages. [The best example in recent times would be the destructrion of over 20 homes at Wadeye during rhe ongoing civil unrest in that place during 2022. This kind of situation is reduplicated in. many communities around the NT.]

* Costs of regular deployment of police to the various hot spots occasioned by alcohol-induced critical incidents around the Northern Territory.

* The ongoing cost of fixing damaged business premises, both internally and externally, because of damage done during ram raids, break-ins, window smashing and fittings damage.

Alcohol – the bane of the NT.