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Barclay, Kelly --- "The Drink Without the Trouble - Hope for Our Future" [2003] IndigLawB 36; (2003) 5(25) Indigenous Law Bulletin 7


The Drink Without the Trouble – Hope for Our Future

by Kelly Barclay

In 2003 the Queensland (‘Qld’) Government implemented a policy strategy called ‘Meeting Challenges, Making Choices’ (‘MCMC’).[1] The strategy involves the establishment of Community Justice Groups (‘CJG’) throughout Aboriginal communities in Northern Qld, including the Cape and Gulf, to enable them to address social justice issues more effectively. The CJGs are regulated by the Community Services (Aborigines) Act 1984 (Qld) (‘Community Services Act’). The CJGs are responsible for developing an Alcohol Management Plan (‘AMP’) for their communities, pursuant to the Liquor Act 1992 (Qld) (‘Liquor Act).

AMPs can be used to control:

Implementation

The Doomadgee community have established our CJG which is called the Ngooderi–Mabuntha Justice Association (‘NMJA’). The NMJA has had a very busy three months electing new members, implementing regulatory procedures, and establishing an AMP. The NMJA now has to gain sufficient backing from government departments to implement the AMP. For example, obtaining cooperation from the local police, and appropriate liquor licensing.

Empowering our community to establish an AMP was a positive move by the Queensland Government, and a bold one. They gave our community a goal and then made resources available to enable us to reach it. The Government’s strategy was risky because they gave enormous power to only a handful of people to make decisions which impact on the entire community. The AMP even affects surrounding areas, as locals travel to nearby towns and roadhouses to purchase alcohol.

However, our community needed some sort of alcohol intervention and I hope that our AMP was a step in the right direction. The problems that are caused by alcohol consumption are unbelievable. Sometimes we try to deny the connection but it is there, and the sooner we admit this and start to minimise the problems the better. Drinkers avoid caring about where their next meal is coming from, and may not feel the pain of a punch. But what about our kids? What about our elderly? What about those who do not drink? What about their futures?

From the very beginning, NMJA was careful not to take anyone’s rights away. The AMP does not totally prohibit alcohol consumption but simply says ‘hold on, you can drink because that’s your right, but you just have to do it in moderation’. There is nothing worse then seeing a child hungry because mum or dad went and blew all their money on grog.

Many people in our community reacted negatively and rejected the AMP because there was a lack of community consultation. While this is understandable, I think people are coming to realise that something had to be done. Furthermore, this is just a starting point from which we can only move forward. If the current AMP does not work we will try again, and keep trying until we find something that works for us. It will be our plan, a Doomadgee plan, and that is what matters.

Progress

The Government has provided a $20,000 grant to NMJA for use in conjunction with their AMP. In June 2003 the NMJA committee dedicated a portion of those funds to establishing a joint venture project with the Doomadgee Community Development Employment Project (‘CDEP’), which involves developing a nursery and a market garden for the community. The Doomadgee CDEP has also received money from the Century Mine for this purpose, as part of an agreement between the mining company and traditional owners that the company contribute to the commercialisation of the area. We hope that with these funds both of these great ideas will be realised.

This project is an important part of combating the alcohol problem here in Doomadgee. After the AMP minimises the amount of alcohol flowing into the community residents, who will be drinking less, are going to have a lot more time on their hands. We need to provide them with something to do besides drinking alcohol, otherwise they could turn to something even more dangerous. The nursery will enable our people to get their hands into a new and positive project, and will enable them to keep occupied.

The nursery and market garden will be operated by NMJA members, paid workers from CDEP, volunteers, and community service workers. This means that people who are not involved in CDEP or NMJA can contribute. We will be calling on all of our community to help get this project on its feet. We hope that it will not only give our people something to work towards, but will help them to regain some pride in their community. This has been long overdue for Doomadgee.

So NMJA has made some big moves and some little moves since being incorporated in September 2002. I think the main point is that it has made moves. There are a lot of things that still need to be done and improved in Doomadgee, but the only way is to tackle issues one at a time and do what we can do. Progress comes with persistence. NMJA are just getting started and we are already moving full steam ahead.

Kelly Barclay is the coordinator of the Ngooderi-Mabuntha Justice Association in Queensland.


[1] Queensland Government, Meeting Challenges, Making Choices: The Queensland Government’s Response to the Cape York Justice Study, (April 2002).


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