Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now, we've spoken quite a bit over recent days about
(00:02):
some of the issues that are being experienced well in
some of the Northern Territories, smaller towns when it comes
to continued crime. Some of those issues also relating to
the misuse of alcohol. There has been some suggestion the
opposition obviously coming out saying that they believe that a
BDR for some licensed venues would be a good thing,
but what would it actually mean to those licensed venues.
(00:27):
Joining me in the studio to talk a little bit
more about this is Kathy Simmons, the CEO of Hospitality
here in the Northern Territory. Good morning to you, Kathy.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Good morning, how you doing?
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Yeah, really good, lovely to have you on the show. Now,
do you think it's time to introduce a BDR for
licensed venues?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
No, I don't, No, I don't.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Now tell me why and what impact do you think
it would have on some of those licensed venues.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Look, you know we all live in the territory. We
all know alcohol related at harm is a serious issue.
But the fact remains that eighty five percent of alcohol
consumed in the territory is purchased at bottle shops and
then consumed at home or in the park or in
the street. That's what's causing, that's fueling the alcohol related harm.
(01:11):
It's not pubs and clubs where there's staff who are
trained in responsible service of alcohol and people just want
to go and have a nice time.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
In terms of like the logistics of there being a
BDR as well inside a license venue, like how would
it work. I suppose if you go into a nightclub
or somewhere you expect to show your ID, I wouldn't
see it as being a big impost. But when you
go out to dinner, I guess at a nice restaurant,
it might be a little bit different. Now, the opposition
leader had said to me earlier in the week. You know,
she's not talking about businesses like that. It's more so
(01:41):
different venues where it may be known that they can
sort of be hot spots. I mean, I guess I'm
thinking she means maybe more pubs in some locations. I'm
not really sure.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Well, I'm not sure what she means by certain venues
in certain locations. Like I said, every stuff member in
the hospitality industry in a venue like that or any
other venue is trained in responsible service of alcohol. You
want to serve a glass of wine, you want to
serve a shot of vodka, you have to be trained
in responsible service of alcohol. So that's something that we're
(02:14):
really you know, that's why we're pushing back on something
like these because it's just not feasible. How do you
go out for a post work drink and shout around
for your girlfriends? Like, do you all get scanned on
the BDR or is it just the person buying it's not,
it's not on.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Do you feel as though we're in a situation in
the Northern Territory at the moment where you know, when
something goes wrong it is more looked at the industry
to make changes rather than the people that are actually
doing the wrong thing.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
That is kind of what we're feeling. Absolutely it is
the focus so far has totally been on regulating the
industry instead of focusing on problem drinking. A lot of
people in the territory, a lot of Territorians are just
ordinary people who like a bottle of wine with dinner
with their family, go out for a meal. That's not
(03:03):
where alcohol related harm is coming from. Alcohol related harm
is caused by irresponsible drinking, and that's down to drinkers
to make sure that they are behaving correctly as well.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
Kathy, what a business is saying to you at the
moment when it comes to the misuse of alcohol or
you know, like I guess some of our hospitality businesses
are actually the victims of crime at the moment, you know,
senseless sort of break ins, alcohol being stolen, that kind
of thing. What are they saying to you at the moment, Well.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
They're saying to me that they've obviously had enough. Like
it's very expensive. Insurance. Premiums just keep going up, and
at this point, a lot of members don't even bother
claiming because a six hundred dollar window is cheaper than
a thousand dollars excess claim and then premiums going up again.
It's untenable, but it is something that they all have
to now budget for. And yes, people break in and
(03:52):
they look for alcohol and they steal alcohol. Often those kids,
it's often new teenagers or younger. They're stealing the alcohol.
They're not drunk themselves, they're not interested in drinking themselves.
They're interested in selling the alcohol or providing it to
family members or providing it to you whoever. That's it's
(04:12):
it's really complex issue.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
This tell me in terms of the BDR like it.
It's a big no from hospitality in terms of a
BDR in licensed venues. Do you think though, that the
BDR needs to be more effective and efficient?
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Yeah, we do. That's the government has said that they're
conducting a BDR review, a review that was an election
commitment part of their focus on crime and law and order,
which is great and I think that's you know, really
promising to see. So that's that's definitely something We support
that review and we will be you know, participating in
(04:47):
that review when that's coming around. But you know, it's
been really good to hear the comments from the Chief
Binister saying, oh BDR on in venues is not really
it will really impact the lifestyle.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
I think now in terms of some locals in Catherine
are saying that they've seen an increase in cheap broken
wine bottles. You know, that's more in terms of takeaway
out let's. I know that hospitality with the takeaway out
let's say, really on the outlets that are attached to venues,
so not your major bottle shops, et cetera. But do
you think that reintroduction of cheap alcohol has had an
(05:19):
impact in any way.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Well, I don't really see it as a reintroduction. The
alcohol was always there. The removal of the minimum Munich
price hasn't seen prices drop like you know, plummets as
far as you know, you can get a bottle of
four dollars a four dollar bottle of wine down South,
and that's not quite the case here. But you know,
(05:42):
I don't, not being Catherine, I haven't seen the proliferation
of the glass. But glass is obviously a huge problem.
Some of the freaking out about cask wine dropping in
price maybe misdirected because at least that doesn't result weapon
at the end of the day.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
In terms of our police officers or the palis on
bottle shops see police auxiliaries, that's something that we had
seen quite a bit of. I know that at the
moment our police are stretched, so you know they're sort
of out at different areas. But should those palies be
back on bottle shops or does it make a difference
from hospitalities perspective.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Yeah, it definitely makes a difference. There's if you look
at the legislation behind private security, which a lot of
my license venues have, it's at a lot of bottle
shops as well, whether they're my members or not. If
you look at the legislation behind private security versus palis,
palies just have a lot more power. You know, real
police have a lot more power and a lot more
access to information and a lot more powers to ask
(06:42):
people for access to that information around court orders, domestic
violence orders and more. And palies have been so effective
in reducing purchasing of alcohol by people who are going
to have harmful behaviors because of it.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Kathy, we did see some changes obviously come into play
after the tragic death of deck On and Lavity. One
of those I thought was that our private security and
also some stuff correct me if I'm wrong, could actually
have capsicum spray or oc spray. Has that sort of
rolled out in the hostel venues or has it not
really been taken up.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
There's been a few licenses for security to carry pepper spray,
capsule spray, The uptake hasn't been super widespread. It's quite
a heavily regulated license, which is as it should be.
I'd like to investigate that a bit more, to be honest,
to see what it is that's holding that back. And
(07:38):
also even if the capsicum spray is issue, like, what
are the conditions under which it can be deployed as well?
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Yeah, and then what are the ramifications for those security
or whoever is actually deploying it. Are they then going
to be in a situation where they're so worried about
the you know, the ramifications of using it that they're
sort of going, we'll hang on a set. I don't
even want this as an option.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Well, that's right. I think it is useful as a
deterrent if it is known that a lot of security
do have it. Right now, private security is not seen
as much of a deterrent. I think we can see
that and a lot of places, for example, the city
will worths, like people just walk in and then walk
out with their groceries and it's quite distressing.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
Yeah, it is distressing, and it's in your face, like
everybody can see it. And then you're thinking to yourself,
goodness me, there's people brazenly breaking the lawyah, which is
like it's upsetting to say, right.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
And security for their safety as well are instructed don't engage,
don't escalate it. What is going on? What are we
doing here?
Speaker 1 (08:42):
Well, this is the thing, and then you know, it
gets to the point where sometimes people are the expectation
is that they can do that in other venues, in
licensed venues, in hospitality businesses, other places, and it winds
up a dangerous situation for the people working there.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
That's right, and that's what we've seen in Nightcliffe. You
imagine having a security guard at a supermarket. The alcohol
is all locked away, it's all safe, it's all regulated.
Someone has walked into a supermarket and walked out with
items and they've tried to be stopped and a tragedy
has occurred. It's not right for people to go to
(09:19):
work at a supermarket or conduct themselves at a business
and not expect to think there's a risk about coming
home at the end of the day. It's not on It's.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Not acceptable at all, and it's really sad then it's happened.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
And I just want to make the point as well.
Folks down south. You go down south, you go to Sydney,
you go to Melbourne, you go to Adelaide, you go
even to small towns in those jurisdictions. They don't have
the problems like we have problems, and they also don't
have the restrictions on venues on alcohol. There's something else
here that we really need to talk about, and it's
(09:53):
individual responsibility on the person who is engaging in harmful behaviors.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
What interesting isn't it when you go into state like
I was in Tasmania. It's a little while back now,
probably a year ago, and I couldn't believe it. We
went to buy petrol and there's like a bit of
a supermarket attached. You could buy a bottle of wine
as well.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
I was like, goodness me, it's because adults can be
trusted to behave in a responsible way. Ordinary territories go out,
have a nice night with their mates, get on the
beers and it's fine. Like it's usually very much fine.
But it's irresponsible consumption that causes alcohol related harm. The
(10:32):
responsible consumption is not harmful.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
Tell me, Kathy. In terms of the industry at the moment,
tracking more generally, how are things going. There seems to
be a few more tourists around the place, Like obviously
we had Base in the Grass on the weekend. I
think the Gin festivals on this weekend. Like there's so
much going on at the.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Moment, So much going on at the moment feels amazing,
doesn't it? So base was huge. It was massive. You
can see all the families and kids and every one
getting around the city before and then walking up to
the gardens and coming back to the city afterwards. Maybe
not the kids, but you know, everyone over age coming
back to the city and having a great time afterwards.
(11:12):
It feels amazing. Gin Festival this weekend, Temper Trap headlining.
Get there for that. It's going to be amazing. And
then if Gin's not your thing, that's fine. Nonamar rodeos
in the evening as well. You get down there, say
hi to Beck and Tony and have a great time.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
Oh it's always an awesome rodeo out there. Well, Kathy,
always good to catch up with you. Thank you so much.
I know it's a busy week for you guys next
week as well with the Hospitality Awards, the Awards of Excellence,
so it's going to be a busy week. Thank you
for joining me this morning.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Thanks so much, Katie.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Thank you
Now, we've spoken quite a bit over recent days about
(00:02):
some of the issues that are being experienced well in
some of the Northern Territories, smaller towns when it comes
to continued crime. Some of those issues also relating to
the misuse of alcohol. There has been some suggestion the
opposition obviously coming out saying that they believe that a
BDR for some licensed venues would be a good thing,
but what would it actually mean to those licensed venues.
(00:27):
Joining me in the studio to talk a little bit
more about this is Kathy Simmons, the CEO of Hospitality
here in the Northern Territory. Good morning to you, Kathy.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Good morning, how you doing?
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Yeah, really good, lovely to have you on the show. Now,
do you think it's time to introduce a BDR for
licensed venues?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
No, I don't, No, I don't.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Now tell me why and what impact do you think
it would have on some of those licensed venues.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Look, you know we all live in the territory. We
all know alcohol related at harm is a serious issue.
But the fact remains that eighty five percent of alcohol
consumed in the territory is purchased at bottle shops and
then consumed at home or in the park or in
the street. That's what's causing, that's fueling the alcohol related harm.
(01:11):
It's not pubs and clubs where there's staff who are
trained in responsible service of alcohol and people just want
to go and have a nice time.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
In terms of like the logistics of there being a
BDR as well inside a license venue, like how would
it work. I suppose if you go into a nightclub
or somewhere you expect to show your ID, I wouldn't
see it as being a big impost. But when you
go out to dinner, I guess at a nice restaurant,
it might be a little bit different. Now, the opposition
leader had said to me earlier in the week. You know,
she's not talking about businesses like that. It's more so
(01:41):
different venues where it may be known that they can
sort of be hot spots. I mean, I guess I'm
thinking she means maybe more pubs in some locations. I'm
not really sure.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Well, I'm not sure what she means by certain venues
in certain locations. Like I said, every stuff member in
the hospitality industry in a venue like that or any
other venue is trained in responsible service of alcohol. You
want to serve a glass of wine, you want to
serve a shot of vodka, you have to be trained
in responsible service of alcohol. So that's something that we're
(02:14):
really you know, that's why we're pushing back on something
like these because it's just not feasible. How do you
go out for a post work drink and shout around
for your girlfriends? Like, do you all get scanned on
the BDR or is it just the person buying it's not,
it's not on.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Do you feel as though we're in a situation in
the Northern Territory at the moment where you know, when
something goes wrong it is more looked at the industry
to make changes rather than the people that are actually
doing the wrong thing.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
That is kind of what we're feeling. Absolutely it is
the focus so far has totally been on regulating the
industry instead of focusing on problem drinking. A lot of
people in the territory, a lot of Territorians are just
ordinary people who like a bottle of wine with dinner
with their family, go out for a meal. That's not
(03:03):
where alcohol related harm is coming from. Alcohol related harm
is caused by irresponsible drinking, and that's down to drinkers
to make sure that they are behaving correctly as well.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
Kathy, what a business is saying to you at the
moment when it comes to the misuse of alcohol or
you know, like I guess some of our hospitality businesses
are actually the victims of crime at the moment, you know,
senseless sort of break ins, alcohol being stolen, that kind
of thing. What are they saying to you at the moment, Well.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
They're saying to me that they've obviously had enough. Like
it's very expensive. Insurance. Premiums just keep going up, and
at this point, a lot of members don't even bother
claiming because a six hundred dollar window is cheaper than
a thousand dollars excess claim and then premiums going up again.
It's untenable, but it is something that they all have
to now budget for. And yes, people break in and
(03:52):
they look for alcohol and they steal alcohol. Often those kids,
it's often new teenagers or younger. They're stealing the alcohol.
They're not drunk themselves, they're not interested in drinking themselves.
They're interested in selling the alcohol or providing it to
family members or providing it to you whoever. That's it's
(04:12):
it's really complex issue.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
This tell me in terms of the BDR like it.
It's a big no from hospitality in terms of a
BDR in licensed venues. Do you think though, that the
BDR needs to be more effective and efficient?
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Yeah, we do. That's the government has said that they're
conducting a BDR review, a review that was an election
commitment part of their focus on crime and law and order,
which is great and I think that's you know, really
promising to see. So that's that's definitely something We support
that review and we will be you know, participating in
(04:47):
that review when that's coming around. But you know, it's
been really good to hear the comments from the Chief
Binister saying, oh BDR on in venues is not really
it will really impact the lifestyle.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
I think now in terms of some locals in Catherine
are saying that they've seen an increase in cheap broken
wine bottles. You know, that's more in terms of takeaway
out let's. I know that hospitality with the takeaway out
let's say, really on the outlets that are attached to venues,
so not your major bottle shops, et cetera. But do
you think that reintroduction of cheap alcohol has had an
(05:19):
impact in any way.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Well, I don't really see it as a reintroduction. The
alcohol was always there. The removal of the minimum Munich
price hasn't seen prices drop like you know, plummets as
far as you know, you can get a bottle of
four dollars a four dollar bottle of wine down South,
and that's not quite the case here. But you know,
(05:42):
I don't, not being Catherine, I haven't seen the proliferation
of the glass. But glass is obviously a huge problem.
Some of the freaking out about cask wine dropping in
price maybe misdirected because at least that doesn't result weapon
at the end of the day.
Speaker 1 (06:01):
In terms of our police officers or the palis on
bottle shops see police auxiliaries, that's something that we had
seen quite a bit of. I know that at the
moment our police are stretched, so you know they're sort
of out at different areas. But should those palies be
back on bottle shops or does it make a difference
from hospitalities perspective.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Yeah, it definitely makes a difference. There's if you look
at the legislation behind private security, which a lot of
my license venues have, it's at a lot of bottle
shops as well, whether they're my members or not. If
you look at the legislation behind private security versus palis,
palies just have a lot more power. You know, real
police have a lot more power and a lot more
access to information and a lot more powers to ask
(06:42):
people for access to that information around court orders, domestic
violence orders and more. And palies have been so effective
in reducing purchasing of alcohol by people who are going
to have harmful behaviors because of it.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Kathy, we did see some changes obviously come into play
after the tragic death of deck On and Lavity. One
of those I thought was that our private security and
also some stuff correct me if I'm wrong, could actually
have capsicum spray or oc spray. Has that sort of
rolled out in the hostel venues or has it not
really been taken up.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
There's been a few licenses for security to carry pepper spray,
capsule spray, The uptake hasn't been super widespread. It's quite
a heavily regulated license, which is as it should be.
I'd like to investigate that a bit more, to be honest,
to see what it is that's holding that back. And
(07:38):
also even if the capsicum spray is issue, like, what
are the conditions under which it can be deployed as well?
Speaker 1 (07:46):
Yeah, and then what are the ramifications for those security
or whoever is actually deploying it. Are they then going
to be in a situation where they're so worried about
the you know, the ramifications of using it that they're
sort of going, we'll hang on a set. I don't
even want this as an option.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Well, that's right. I think it is useful as a
deterrent if it is known that a lot of security
do have it. Right now, private security is not seen
as much of a deterrent. I think we can see
that and a lot of places, for example, the city
will worths, like people just walk in and then walk
out with their groceries and it's quite distressing.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
Yeah, it is distressing, and it's in your face, like
everybody can see it. And then you're thinking to yourself,
goodness me, there's people brazenly breaking the lawyah, which is
like it's upsetting to say, right.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
And security for their safety as well are instructed don't engage,
don't escalate it. What is going on? What are we
doing here?
Speaker 1 (08:42):
Well, this is the thing, and then you know, it
gets to the point where sometimes people are the expectation
is that they can do that in other venues, in
licensed venues, in hospitality businesses, other places, and it winds
up a dangerous situation for the people working there.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
That's right, and that's what we've seen in Nightcliffe. You
imagine having a security guard at a supermarket. The alcohol
is all locked away, it's all safe, it's all regulated.
Someone has walked into a supermarket and walked out with
items and they've tried to be stopped and a tragedy
has occurred. It's not right for people to go to
(09:19):
work at a supermarket or conduct themselves at a business
and not expect to think there's a risk about coming
home at the end of the day. It's not on It's.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Not acceptable at all, and it's really sad then it's happened.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
And I just want to make the point as well.
Folks down south. You go down south, you go to Sydney,
you go to Melbourne, you go to Adelaide, you go
even to small towns in those jurisdictions. They don't have
the problems like we have problems, and they also don't
have the restrictions on venues on alcohol. There's something else
here that we really need to talk about, and it's
(09:53):
individual responsibility on the person who is engaging in harmful behaviors.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
What interesting isn't it when you go into state like
I was in Tasmania. It's a little while back now,
probably a year ago, and I couldn't believe it. We
went to buy petrol and there's like a bit of
a supermarket attached. You could buy a bottle of wine
as well.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
I was like, goodness me, it's because adults can be
trusted to behave in a responsible way. Ordinary territories go out,
have a nice night with their mates, get on the
beers and it's fine. Like it's usually very much fine.
But it's irresponsible consumption that causes alcohol related harm. The
(10:32):
responsible consumption is not harmful.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
Tell me, Kathy. In terms of the industry at the moment,
tracking more generally, how are things going. There seems to
be a few more tourists around the place, Like obviously
we had Base in the Grass on the weekend. I
think the Gin festivals on this weekend. Like there's so
much going on at the.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Moment, So much going on at the moment feels amazing,
doesn't it? So base was huge. It was massive. You
can see all the families and kids and every one
getting around the city before and then walking up to
the gardens and coming back to the city afterwards. Maybe
not the kids, but you know, everyone over age coming
back to the city and having a great time afterwards.
(11:12):
It feels amazing. Gin Festival this weekend, Temper Trap headlining.
Get there for that. It's going to be amazing. And
then if Gin's not your thing, that's fine. Nonamar rodeos
in the evening as well. You get down there, say
hi to Beck and Tony and have a great time.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
Oh it's always an awesome rodeo out there. Well, Kathy,
always good to catch up with you. Thank you so much.
I know it's a busy week for you guys next
week as well with the Hospitality Awards, the Awards of Excellence,
so it's going to be a busy week. Thank you
for joining me this morning.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Thanks so much, Katie.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
Thank you
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