Laws that prevent licenced bars or clubs on remote Indigenous communities reek of imperial, paternalistic attitudes.

The CLP clearly supports this infantilising and suppression of Indigenous Territorians with Jacinta Price reported this week as saying that passing laws to allow licenced premises on communities would “open the floodgates” and “so we have to make sure that we don’t bring back a situation…”

Instead of “we have to make sure”, how about they decide as a community, what’s best for them.

Dr Sam McMahon Campaigning in Tennant Creek

People who live in communities actually can think for themselves and make decisions on what’s right for them, they don’t need politicians who don’t live there deciding for them.

Prohibition doesn’t work, we’ve seen that historically across many different cultures. What it does do is drive an unlawful trade of sly grog running and lead those who want to drink, in to the towns and cities. If anyone spruiking prohibition ever bothered to go to a community in the NT, they would see middens of coloured cans around the place, drunk people fighting at night and cars full of grog coming in. A lot of what comes in is heavy stuff too, spirits and full-strength beers.

It is well beyond time that we gave Aboriginal people living in remote communities the right to decide for themselves if having a licenced venue is appropriate for them or not. They may decide that they don’t want one and that’s fine, however if they do, there are examples of how they can be run very well for the benefit of everyone on that community.

Two examples that I have personally visited a few times and spoken extensively to people in the community about how they feel having a club in the place, are Kalkarindji and Beswick.

The existence of a club on a community that’s run by and for the community can have quite a few benefits. They teach responsible consumption of alcohol by regulating how much people can drink and not allowing entry to drunks (people are breathalysed on the way in and again if they look like they’ve had one too many). They serve nutritious meals and are family friendly with entertainment for the kids. All profit stays in the community instead of far-away pubs and bottle shops.

They cut down on the sly grog running and people driving back from a pub drunk, putting lives at risk. They also encourage people who have come in to the city and towns because they want alcohol, to return to their community. There wouldn’t be too many of us who haven’t seen people lying around the streets, harassing people and committing crimes because they don’t live there, they’ve come in from out bush.

Dr Sam McMahon at the ANZAC Service in Alice Springs

It’s pointless having programs like return to country when, after a short period of time, they’re back on the streets of Karama.

I have been saying for years that a big step in addressing the itinerant problem in Darwin, Katherine, Tennant Creek and Alice Springs is to allow clubs on communities.

If we are truly honest about regarding and treating Indigenous Territorians as equals then we need to let them make their own decisions about things that affect them and stop telling them that “we have to make sure we’re doing what’s best for you”.

Dr Sam McMahon is the current serving Senator who is the Liberal Democrats candidate for the Senate.

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