Today’s Minimum Unit Price (MUP) Evaluation is deceptive at best and has been roundly ridiculed by the public.
Shadow Minister for Racing, Gaming and Licensing Marie-Clare Boothby said the report only measured from Quarter 1, 2013 to Quarter 1, 2020 – capturing only the first six months of COVID.
“This is not a long enough time to seriously measure the impact of the floor price,” Ms Boothby said.
“During and following COVID, we know that crime—including alcohol-related crime and domestic violence—has increased exponentially and people were simply switching from cask wine to spirits.
“When will the Government come clean and do a review that actually measures more than one year of data?
“What are they trying to hide by cherry-picking dates to exclude two years of COVID?”
Ms Boothby said in her electorate of Brennan, she was constantly picking up empty bottles of spirits and smashed glass which posed a risk to the community.
“Darwin and Palmerston is now littered with empty bottles of spirits and broken spirit bottles instead of the cans and empty casks. No one is falling for this glossy government report,” she said.
“Additionally, this report really shows that PALIs are working in Alice Springs, Tennant Creek and Katherine and we question why there are no PALIs in Greater Darwin.
“The report also shows there’s been an increase in other substance ED presentations, hospital presentations in Darwin increased, and sobering up shelter presentations have increased post-MUP.
“The Fyles Labor government can pull the wool over our eyes with these deceptive reports but it’s not the reality of what Territorians are living and breathing every single day.”
Ms Boothby said a CLP Government would scrap the Minimum Floor Price and review the Banned Drinker Register which are Labor’s Band-Aid solutions with worse outcomes for Territorians.
“We would also reinstate the 2km rule, and make sure people with chronic alcohol issues get the help they really need,” she said.
ENDS