WA liquor licensing director launches Carnarvon booze review after Premier flags tougher measures

Authorities are looking into the possibility of imposing major alcohol restrictions in Carnarvon in response to booze-fuelled dysfunction and an ongoing crime wave Carnarvon has repeatedly hit headlines for all the wrong reasons, most recently in an alcohol-fuelled brawl involving about 100 people in which a boy suffered serious head injuries. Lanie Chopping, WA’s director of liquor licensing, is now considering restrictions on alcohol sales in a bid to combat the violence. Proposals being considered include packaged liquor sales being prohibited on Sunday and Monday, and on other days only being allowed between midday and 7pm. Others include limiting packaged daily liquor sales to each customer to one carton of beer where the alcohol content does not exceed 6 per cent, or two bottles or a 1.5 litre cask of wine, or one litre of spirits. Another proposal is not selling alcohol in glass containers when a product is available in cans. Premier Mark McGowan said that during his most recent visit to the town, “everyone from the Shire President to police to community services and Indigenous leaders” blamed alcohol abuse as the main cause of its problems. “I saw it for myself – homes destroyed, streets littered with smashed bottles, children allowed to walk those streets when they should have been in school. It was confronting,” Mr McGowan told The West Australian. “That is why I agree with locals in Carnarvon who say it’s time for action – and that action must include serious liquor restrictions.” Mr McGowan took aim at a liquor accord — a voluntary agreement between the liquor industry, police, local authorities and the Department of Health to help reduce the harm associated with the misuse of alcohol — that the town finally formed just before his visit. “A liquor accord where alcohol retailers or licensees voluntarily decide to just a handful of specific ineffective and useless rules simply won’t cut it,” he said. “Carnarvon has never had ongoing alcohol restrictions. It is time for change. I therefore applaud the Director of Liquor Licensing’s decision to take action on this issue.” Ms Chopping points to shocking data indicating that alcohol consumption per adult in Carnarvon is 2.4 times the overall WA rate. From 2010 to 2019, the number of deaths attributable to alcohol in the town was 151 per cent higher than for the rest of WA. And from 2016 to 2020, the rate of alcohol-related hospitalisations in Carnarvon was 82 per cent higher than the State’s rate. Ms Chopping also cited data that indicated ambulance callouts for alcohol-related trauma in Carnarvon were nine times higher on weekends with unrestricted liquor trade, compared to weekends when police had taken temporary action under their powers to limit sale and supply. Further, last year, alcohol-related crimes in Carnarvon were 16.2 times higher than in the metropolitan area and 3.5 times higher than the overall WA rate. At the same time, alcohol-related family assaults in Carnarvon were eight times higher than in the metro area and 3.5 times higher than WA as a whole. Earlier this month, Racing and Gaming Minister Reece Whitby announced new laws were being drafted to strengthen the banned drinkers’ register after trials in the Pilbara, Kimberley and Goldfields regions, confirming the trial would be expanded to Carnarvon. Shire of Carnarvon president Eddie Smith has repeatedly called for urgent intervention by State and Federal governments, describing the town as having a “war-zone” atmosphere with out-of-control youth roaming the streets — leaving some locals too scared to go out while others had moved away. In the latest terrifying incident, a boy suffered serious head injuries after he was hit by a flying object during a riot on Sunday. Two teenagers are among those charged over the incident, which is understood to have involved about 100 people. Police Minister Paul Papalia described the incident as “very disturbing”. “What is very clear is that the driver of most of this violence, particularly in Carnarvon, is harmful use of alcohol,” he said. “What needs to be considered ... is ongoing restrictions on takeaway of some description. That will be part of the response.