Booze ban tops kids’ wish list at Halls Creek in WA

CHILDREN of the troubled Kimberley town of Halls Creek have unanimously nominated an alcohol ban as their No1 wish, ahead of a local cinema and an international airport.More than 100 children aged 10 to 14 at the school in Halls Creek told youth facilitator Michael O’Meara that, more than anything else, they wanted alcohol eliminated from their town and wanted help for their parents and other adults in Halls Creek to get sober.”The young people were very clear about what they wanted … they weren’t prompted or given suggestions,” said Mr O’Meara, facilitator of last year’s 2020 Youth Summit.

“They spoke of their fears that some in the community would not like them asking for the elimination of alcohol, and they spoke of the impact of alcohol on their lives – I can say they have very real reasons for wanting it to stop.”

The children’s request last October, the first Mr O’Meara said he had encountered in 20 years working with youth, will boost the efforts of Halls Creek leaders who are pushing for a ban on full-strength takeaway alcohol such as the one introduced in Fitzroy Crossing in October 2007. Last week, Minister for Racing, Gaming and Liquor Terry Waldron met residents and business owners in Fitzroy Crossing and in Halls Creek, where some wore T-shirts labelled “Get Rid of the Grog” and “Our kids are 21 times more likely to be born with Foetal Alcohol Syndrome”.

The shire of Halls Creek and business operators are against a total ban, and Mr Waldron has agreed to visit Alice Springs with director of Liquor Licensing Barry Sargeant next month to see how its alcohol restrictions work and what effect they are having.

Mr Waldron said he understood the concerns of businesses that did not want bans, but he was also determined to find a range of measures that protected children and reduced violence.

Matthew O’Sullivan, of the Australian Employment Covenant linked to Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest’s Australian Children’s Trust, said the children of Halls Creek needed immediate action.

“By all means, look at other solutions such as a card system,but do that after introducing something that we know works (such as) a Fitzroy Crossing-type restriction,” Mr O’Sullivan said.

“Halls Creek needs a circuit breaker to free themselves of the ravages of alcohol abuse and they can’t afford to wait on another trial and another fact-finding trip. Too many young lives are being destroyed to wait.

“We have employers in the Kimberley lining up to give people in Halls Creek a job but they all say: ‘Get them sober and ready to work, then I’ll give them a job.”‘

Alcohol-fuelled violence in the tiny Kimberley town of Wyndham has led to nine arrests and seven hospital admissions since Christmas, prompting police to invoke a 24-hour takeaway alcohol ban on Saturday and a week-long ban on most full-strength takeaway alcohol beginning today.

Wyndham Town Hotel owner Susan Bee said some of the troublemakers had arrived from the remote community of Oombulgurri, which has been declared alcohol-free in the wake of shocking revelations at a coronial inquest into alcohol-related suicides.