Fed: Liquor industry should pay for alcohol problems: Moroney

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Fed: Liquor industry should pay for alcohol problems: Moroney

By Joe Hildebrand

SYDNEY, Aug 26 AAP - The liquor industry itself should pay for programs tackling alcohol-relatedproblems and abuse, NSW Police Commissioner Ken Moroney will tell the nation's first majorsummit on the matter today.

And a leading expert on alcohol abuse will warn governments not to blame young peoplefor binge drinking when the entire country has a problem with grog.

Mr Moroney will use the opening of the NSW Summit on Alcohol Abuse to highlight a lackof holding accommodation for intoxicated people.

"In the absence of other options, police have to detain the person in the cells asa last resort," he said in a draft speech obtained by AAP.

"This is not desirable for the person or the police."

Mr Moroney said funding for this and other programs should come directly from the liquorindustry.

"I challenge the industry and government at all levels to provide a greater range ofinfrastructure, rehabilitation and related support services funded directly through thetaxes collected from the industry itself," he said.

Mr Moroney also called for tighter restrictions on alcohol advertising, particularlytargeting young people.

University student Zeha Behrend, a youth representative at the summit, has also calledfor greater regulation of alcohol advertising and harder-hitting commercials, similarto those used to combat drink-driving and smoking.

"Young people actually want more graphic ads," she said.

Victorian Odyssey House boss David Crosbie agrees that alcohol advertising is too prevalentbut warned governments against blaming "soft targets" such as young people for a problemthat crosses age and social boundaries.

The pronouncement may come as a shock to the NSW government, which has nominated youthalcohol abuse as one of the major focal points of the summit.

But Mr Crosbie, who is also on the National Expert Advisory Committee on Alcohol, willtell the 240 delegates the root of the problem lies in society as a whole and Australia'slove of the bottle.

"We tend to look at young people and blame them without looking at adult intoxication,which is the biggest problem we have," he told AAP.

Mr Crosbie said in a country where major national events such as the Melbourne Cup,the Australian Open and the AFL Grand Final were all sponsored by beer manufacturers itwas little wonder alcohol abuse was rife.

Likewise, the marking of weddings, funerals, promotions and religious celebrationswith a tipple was sending an obvious message to young people.

"If you live in a society which is awash with alcohol ... then it's not surprisingthat young people want to mark their social occasions with alcohol," he said.

"Telling them they shouldn't be doing that while we go on engaging in the sort of behaviourwe're telling young people not to do is nothing short of hypocrisy."

Ms Behrend agreed: "The culture is to drink to get drunk - it's part of Australian culture."

But Mr Crosbie said governments were reluctant to tackle mainstream alcohol abuse becauseit was a political powderkeg.

He also accused the federal government of having "sweetheart deals" which taxed bottledwine heavily while having a negligible excise of six cents in the dollar on cask wine- a major source for problem drinkers.

Premier Bob Carr, who will open today's summit, said the government was open to allsuggestions on the best way to tackle alcohol problems and would not rule anything out.

AAP jh/nf/cjm/bwl

KEYWORD: ALCOHOL NIGHTLEAD