Broome and Derby alcohol restrictions: New booze purchase limits proposed by the Director of Liquor Licensing

Takeaway alcohol sales in Broome and Derby would be permitted only between noon and 7pm and a raft of new purchase limits applied under a crackdown on grog proposed by the Director of Liquor Licensing. A total ban on the sale of take-home booze would also apply on Sundays and Mondays in Derby, mirroring conditions applied in Carnarvon last May. A show cause notice was on Monday sent to 37 licensees in Broome and Derby outlining the draft measures – the same day The West Australian revealed the contents of secret police dossier prepared in 2020 in support of harsher booze bans in the Kimberley. The proposed measures include limiting takeaway sales to a single carton of full-strength beer per customer per day, or alternatively 2 bottles of wine, 1 litre of spirts or 1 litre of fortified wine. Where the alcohol content exceeds 6 per cent, customers would be restricted to a maximum of 3.75 litres of beer, cider or pre-mix spirits. Takeaway alcohol would be purchasable every day in Broome – but only between noon and 7pm. In Derby, takeaway booze would only be allowed between noon and 7pm from Tuesday to Saturday, with total bans in place Sunday and Monday. Licensees in both towns would continue to be required to scan the IDs of all customers purchasing packaged liquor to ensure they are not on the banned drinkers register. Where a particular product is available in a non-glass container, it would be illegal for a licensed venue to sell the glass version to everyday punters. Customers could also apply to make a “bulk purchase order” with at least 72 hours notice, but would be required to provide their name, address, phone number, address where the booze is being taken, description of what is being bought and the reason for the order. A copy of that information must then be provided to the local police station within 24 hours of the order being received. Licensees would also be required to maintain a register of all takeaway sales “made by a tourist, station owner, pastoralist or a person operating or employed at a remote work site.” They would also be required to provide their name, address, phone number, vehicle registration and the address the alcohol is being taken. Finally, licensees would need to keep a comprehensive record of their own booze purchases from wholesalers. Licensed venues have until February 23 to respond to the proposed restrictions – including providing any objections – before Director of Liquor Licensing Lanie Chopping makes her final decision. In a notice published online, the DLL said the show cause notices were the result of a long-running inquiry into the impact of alcohol consumption on Broome and Derby “in consultation with WA Police, local licensees, service providers, community groups, health agencies, local governments, academics and other stakeholders.” “The proposed restrictions are aimed at minimising alcohol-related harm and ensuring public order and safety,” the notice said. “It follows a detailed inquiry which gathered extensive evidence of the effects of excessive alcohol consumption in those areas and considered the impact on the health and safety of individuals and families.” The West Australian understands that evidence included a police dossier of explosive testimony from frontline health, social and education workers outlining in graphic detail the social devastation caused by widespread alcohol abuse. The contents of that dossier – revealed by The West for the first time on Monday – included former Broome Hospital senior medical officer Sue Phillips describing government inaction on alcohol as “aiding and abetting genocide”. “We now have generations of adults with fetal alcohol syndrome who have no capacity to break out of this cycle, and who have alcohol drinking problems themselves, with poor coping skills and a low threshold for violence,” Dr Phillips said. “I cannot emphasise enough how strongly I feel that in doing nothing about the serious problem of alcohol issues in our community, the Government is simply aiding and abetting genocide.” The exhaustive report was compiled under former Police Commissioner Chris Dawson and provided to the DLL in a bid to win support for a total ban on the sale of full-strength takeaway alcohol in the Kimberley. Responding to the dossier on Monday, Emergency Services Minster Stephen Dawson – who lives in the North West and represents the region – said he was opposed to a blanket ban. “I don’t think you can ban people in this part of the world from drinking full strength alcohol,” he said. “However, what we’ve seen from restrictions that have been put in place in terms of the days that alcohol can be sold or the times alcohol can be sold, has had a benefit for the communities that have had those restrictions in place.” Mr Dawson’s added recent changes to the banned drinkers register – which make it much easier for police to add individuals – would also contribute to cracking down on liquor abuse. In comments that came prior to the publication of the proposed new restrictions, Mr Dawson stressed the Kimberley was an “important tourism destination”. “So it’s important to have balance. You can have restrictions in place, but you don’t want those restrictions to close down our hotels, to close down our restaurants,” he said. Mr Dawson also cautioned against the use of the term “genocide” which he said was strongly linked with Nazi Germany. “I would urge people to think before they utter such words,” he said. “For many, many people, genocide has got a particular meaning – and that is people who lost their lives as a result of Hitler in Germany many moons ago. “So I would urge people to think before they speak.”