restrictions – Michmutters
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Australia

Kowanyama’s takeaway liquor license has good and bad sides for remote Cape York community

To legally buy alcohol from this Queensland pub you must blow in the bag – and you must blow zero.

Kowanyama, a remote town on western Cape York, was one of seven Indigenous communities in Queensland where prohibition was introduced in 2008.

In 2014, the local canteen reopened serving restricted amounts of alcohol.

This year the community has gained more freedom regarding alcohol, successfully applying for a takeaway license.

But that freedom is restricted.

Each person is limited to buying 12 mid-strength drinks per evening, and only from Wednesday to Saturday between 5pm and 11pm.

To enter the canteen patrons you must sign in, take a breathalyser test, and return a zero blood alcohol reading—even to buy takeaways.

A laminated sign hangs from a fence warning people not to bring alcohol on a premises in Kowanyama.
Some Kowanyama residents register their homes as ‘dry places’, with penalties for anyone who brings alcohol in.(ABC Far North: Mark Rigby )

They can then, for example, have four drinks at the bar and take eight home.

Producing a members or visitors card at the bar allows staff to keep tabs on how many drinks people have had, while customers are kept informed of their limit by a flashing digital display on the cash register.

A similar canteen has this month opened on the opposite side of Cape York, at Lockhart River — another of the seven communities where prohibition was introduced in 2008.

Venues on Mornington Island and at Pormpuraaw, on western Cape York, are also in the process of applying for extensions of their existing liquor licences.

‘Hardly anyone here’

Many in Kowanyama gathered for the annual Rodeo Ball this month, hosted at the canteen.

Thomas Hudson, President of the Kowanyama Sport and Recreation Association which runs the canteen, said the aim of the ball was to bring the community together.

An Aboriginal man dressed in jeans and a plaid shirt stands under a string of balloons reading 'Rodeo Ball'.
Kowanyama Sport and Recreation Association president Thomas Hudson spearheads the annual Rodeo Ball.(ABC Far North: Mark Rigby)

“For people to dress up and be proud of themselves because we don’t do that every day here in our community,” Mr Hudson said.

Attendance at this year’s event, the first since its inception where takeaway alcohol has been available, was down on previous years.

The steady stream of people buying from the canteen takeaway counter before its 8pm closure confirmed what ball attendee Clive ‘Smokey’ Gilbert suspected – that many were choosing to drink at home.

“There’s hardly anyone in the canteen here,” Smokey said.

“When no takeaways were on this pub used to be crowded but you don’t see that now, they’re always going home now.”

Two Indigenous men stand side by side under fluorescent lights in a bar.
Clive ‘Smokey’ Gilbert (L) and Kowanyama Aboriginal Shire Mayor Robbie Sands (R) attended this year’s Rodeo Ball.(ABC Far North: Mark Rigby)

Fellow Kowanyama resident Gwendolyn Dick said despite the below average attendance, the ball did succeed in bringing the community together during an extended period of sorry business.

“We had four deaths just recently, and another one in the last week or so,” Ms Dick said.

“It’s good to see all the families from in the community come together all in one because we often can’t during the sorry business and the funeral.”

Return of rights and responsibilities

Most in Kowanyama welcome the return of the canteen and of takeaway alcohol sales, including the community’s women’s support group.

Security providers and canteen customers said the increase in takeaway sales had resulted in a reduction in fights and anti-social behavior at the pub.

“It’s something good for the community,” Smokey said.

“It keeps them out of trouble and people enjoy their beers at home watching the football.”

Silhouetted figures bathed in fluorescent light in an outdoor bar.
Rodeo Ball attendance was down in 2022, with takeaway sales meaning more people are choosing to drink at home instead.(ABC Far North: Mark Rigby)

For Michael Yam, a former mayor of the Kowanyama Aboriginal Shire Council the resumption of takeaway alcohol sales at the community’s canteen is a return of the rights and responsibilities of the townspeople.

“It’s about time they gave us something back,” he said.

“It’ll probably minimize the sly grogging because, as we know, in our community there’s always opportunists that are going to do it.”

And he said there were benefits to people choosing to drink at home, rather than at the canteen.

“Some families take their drinks home so that they can be home with their kids instead of drinking in the club all the time, away from their little ones.”

Lockhart River Aboriginal Shire Major Wayne Butcher said that community’s newly opened canteen had been “14 years in the making.”

“It’s created 10 new jobs in the community overnight so it’s great to see a lot of young people working as crowd controllers, security or people serving alcohol behind the bar and preparing food,” he said.

“That’s the other side of the coin that we don’t get to look at too much or focus on.”

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Categories
Australia

Learner driver speed limits spark debate with NSW regional road safety inquiry underway

Driving instructors and the trucking industry want speed limits for learner drivers in New South Wales to be lifted or increased, citing safety concerns on regional roads.

Learner and red P-plate drivers in NSW cannot exceed 90 kilometers per hour while driving, even if a road’s speed limit is higher.

A state parliamentary committee is currently holding an inquiry into speed limits and road safety in regional areas.

The NSW Driver Trainers Association believes novice speed restrictions should be removed.

Vice president Christine Hillis said the rules increased travel time and fatigue, and could encourage other motorists to attempt risky overtaking.

She said regional roads that did not have adequate overtaking lanes were of particular concern.

“It just puts pressure on everyone else that uses the roads,” she said.

“In every other state on the eastern seaboard the learner drivers can drive at close to the speed limit.”

New South Wales learner drivers used to be capped at 80kph until it was increased in 2013.

Queensland, Victoria and the ACT do not have similar speed restrictions for their learner drivers but the Northern Territory limits learners to 80kph and South Australian novices are capped at 100kph.

A man standing in front of a driving instructor's car
Graham Kidson says it makes new drivers anxious when traffic builds up behind them.(ABC NewsHugh Hogan)

Stressful situations

Graham Kidson runs a driving school in Orange, in the state’s central west, and argued a learner driver following the rules could cause dangerous situations on regional roads.

“Traffic is building up behind them, it makes them more anxious, and people tend to do silly things to encourage the learner to go faster or tend to take risks to overtake,” he said.

The driving instructor of more than 15 years believed brand new drivers should not be out on the highway.

“But by the time they get to the stage where they can move onto the highway, there’s certainly an advantage if they can keep up with the speed of the traffic,” Mr Kidson said.

Rod Hannifey smiles in front of his truck
Rod Hannifey says the well-intentioned speed restrictions can cause havoc on regional roads.(ABC News: Jerry Rickard)

trucking concerns

Safety advocates from the trucking industry have also thrown their weight behind the calls to get rid of probationary speed limits.

President of the National Road Freighters Association Rod Hannifey said the rules created delays and caused extra fatigue for truck drivers.

“If we had four-lane highways everywhere that would be really nice, but we’re all realistic,” he said.

“and [drivers] that are learning in rural areas are more likely to be on a two-lane road with trucks that have logbooks and time requirements and need to manage their fatigue.”

He said it was also important that beginner drivers got practice traveling at the speed limit.

“Give them the opportunity to at least do a reasonable highway speed instead of making them another obstacle,” he said.

“They don’t have to travel at the limit, but it gives them more options to flow with the traffic and learn with less duration.”

No Overtaking or Passing sign on Williams Road at Bonville in NSW.
Critics say the lack of overtaking opportunities on regional roads puts undue pressure on learner drivers.(ABC News: Chris Gillette)

no evidence

Transport for New South Wales said there was no evidence that increasing speed limits for novice drivers would reduce fatigue related crashes.

The deputy secretary of safety, environment and regulation, Tara McCarthy, said novice drivers were still developing necessary skills and experience.

“In recognition of this and the higher crash risks that these drivers face as a result of inexperience, NSW has implemented the Graduated License Scheme [learner speed limits],” she said.

The agency said since the scheme was implemented in June 2000, driver fatalities for those aged 25 years and under had reduced by 58 per cent.

“These speed restrictions, combined with a zero tolerance approach to speeding offences, are in place to manage risk and young driver trauma,” Ms McCarthy said.

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