Hoolihan, Richard --- "Public Drunkenness in Townsville: The Way Forward" [2003] IndigLawB 37; (2003) 5(25) Indigenous Law Bulletin 9

• Public Drunkenness In Townsville: The Way Forward
• Where To From Here?

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Public Drunkenness in Townsville:
The Way Forward

by Richard Hoolihan

Public drunkenness and the bad behaviour which can result from it affect us all in different ways. I am an advocate for sensible debate and proactive collaboration to resolve the social justice issues surrounding Indigenous public drunkenness. The Indigenous community of Townsville in Queensland has taken a leadership role in this approach.

When public drunkenness and the bad behaviour associated with it are mentioned in Townsville most people think about Aboriginal people in our parks. The reality is that the nightclub strip in Townsville generates more incidents of violence and bad public behaviour than exists in our parks. Despite this Townsville politicians scapegoat Aboriginal people as the cause of the public drunkenness problem when they politicise the issue leading up to elections. They then fail to take action once elected to office. This has led to a public debate drawn out over many years without any hope of dealing with the issue successfully. Furthermore, the negativity that is generated by such a public debate fuels racism, negative stereotyping, and negative social interaction between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities.

Issues surrounding public drunkenness and how to deal with it plague every major city in the world. The only places that have successfully dealt with the problem are those places where all the parties to the debate work together to deal with the many issues that make up the problem. In Townsville, those that have tried to generate sensible debate to resolve the issue have been hounded out of the debate by the overwhelming negativity of our so called ‘community leaders’. Their tit for tat debates went nowhere, and were never going to bring the parties together to discuss the issues because their perspectives were poles apart.

The policies that have arisen from these debates have failed. The local government’s view was that everyone else was responsible for the problem and they were the victims. They invoked local bylaws in a way which only strengthened the local Indigenous community’s resolve not to cooperate with any initiatives they introduced. Local government security officers used dogs to attack Indigenous people in Townsville parks until community outrage was so great that this practice had to be stopped. The police were constantly made the meat in the sandwich, with politicians calling on them to do more than they had the power to do. As a result, the Indigenous community’s relationship with the police has never been good. The State Government’s initiative to prohibit alcohol in Aboriginal communities has done little more than force chronic alcoholics to move into communities where alcohol is freely available.

These initiatives failed because the Indigenous community refused to cooperate due to the negative overtones accompanying the programs. Those that did become involved were targeted and ridiculed until they gave up. There was never a genuine desire to deal with the issues that are at the root of Indigenous public drunkenness. These include the high cost of living, racism in the housing sector which is fuelled by negative racial stereotyping, poor health which results from low socio-economic status, and unemployment. It is these issues that need to be addressed and resolved.

When the public drunkenness debate raised its ugly head again about two years ago Tonky Logan, who is a local Indigenous elder, approached the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission Regional Council Chairperson Eddie Smallwood and myself for help to establish a sensible public debate about Indigenous public drunkenness. We agreed to help, and have worked with the Indigenous community and interested parties for about 12 months to progress debate about the underlying factors which have compounded the problem.

This led to a State Government review. The Premier Peter Beattie made a commitment to deal with the issues surrounding Indigenous public drunkenness in Townsville. There was a ministerial summit in Townsville, where seven Queensland ministers were asked to do whatever was necessary to resolve the problem. Items discussed included the lack of facilities to deal with alcoholism, and the lack of facilities to detoxify people who were abusing alcohol or other substances. A similar review was held in Cairns and Mount Isa with issues being debated and the way forward planned. The reports which emerged from the reviews in each regional centre were the catalyst for a range of government initiatives.

In Townsville these included the establishment of an Indigenous Community Patrol, which was modelled on the successful Night Patrols in Alice Springs. However, the potential for this initiative to bring about positive change is limited by a lack of resources and funding. The local government is yet to support the project by committing resources and funding.

Where to from here?

The debate about Indigenous public drunkenness will be with us for a very long time yet. Politicising the issue only strengthens people’s resolve to stay out of the debate, and we need people in the debate. To deal with it as a community we need to debate the issue in a constructive way and resolve it together. We also need resources and effective social programs. Alcohol prohibition has never worked but educating people about responsible drinking will. Aboriginal people are the most marginalised group in society, and they have turned to alcohol and drugs to deal with that. To effectively deal with alcohol and substance abuse our society needs to change their marginalised position, and afford every citizen the equal opportunity to succeed.

There is another dimension to the issue. People live in a free society and they choose what they do. People choose to drink, and usually when they drink they behave badly. This statement rings true to whomever it is applied regardless of race. The best possible outcome for this debate is a society which is more understanding of Indigenous public drunkenness. People who wish to debate the topic should do so with open minds and hearts. The alcohol debate needs the emotion taken out of it, and replaced with a sensible discussion about what can be done. We must no longer engage in an intolerant debate about measures that the Indigenous community will not accept or comply with.

Richard Hoolihan is the Coordinator of the Townsville and Thuringowa Indigenous Peoples Community Employment Enterprise Development Corporation.