Government intervention necessary to stop drunken violence

While changing Australia’s violent streak requires changing our attitudes towards alcohol and violence as the editorial in this newspaper on Monday stated, this is only half the solution.

The key to changing the mindset of an entire nation is direct policy intervention.

It is very true that in recent decades we have seen community attitudes and behaviours largely change for the better across a range of community health and safety issues. But if we fail to acknowledge the pivotal and absolutely necessary role of government leadership, of legislative change, of regulation and enforcement as well as education in shifting the public’s attitudes, we risk playing into the hands of Queensland’s alcohol industry, a very vocal and powerful self-interested minority that would prefer the Government sit on its hands and do nothing.

The Courier-Mail cited gun control, smoking, road safety and family violence, quite correctly as examples of where cultural attitudes have changed over time, albeit the journey to tackle family violence has only just begun.

Yet these examples are, in fact, textbook illustrations of cases where government intervention and sensible legislation have helped create cultural shifts that, in turn, have made Australia a much safer and healthier place to live.

Australians didn’t simply wake up one morning and collectively decide drink-driving wasn’t on, that they’d catch a cab home from the pub instead, put on their seatbelt once in the cab, and refrain from lighting a cigarette.

Our cultural attitudes are not shaped by a “hive mind” operating as one, but rather as a direct consequence of strong leadership and of a vision put in motion through policy action.

Legislation that will change the environment in which we drink — by focusing on alcohol’s availability, price and promotion — will rapidly impact on behaviours, social norms and attitudes towards alcohol.

As Queensland Police Commissioner Ian Stewart rightly noted, a cultural shift is needed.

We should be appalled by his observation that other parts of the world don’t suffer from the violent drinking cultures seen in Australia.

There can be no overnight fix in attitudes but the Queensland Government’s proposed reduction in trading hours strategy will have a sustained, significant and almost immediate impact, saving lives and reducing violence as it has in other Australian jurisdictions.

The introduction of these laws is both a necessary and monumentally important first step in the right direction.

Queensland’s alcohol industry, long accustomed to a world in which industry interests come first and the public a poor second, is loud in its opposition to any reduction in trading hours.

As the profit-seeking alcohol industry sees it, alcohol-linked violence is everyone else’s fault. Yet thankfully it would appear the Queensland public are no longer, if they in fact ever were, buying into the industry’s fear campaigns and unverifiable unsubstantiated spin.

Polling conducted by Galaxy Research and released yesterday found almost three quarters of Queenslanders supported the late-night trading restrictions proposed by the Palaszczuk Government.

The vast majority of Queenslanders find the current levels of alcohol-related violence unacceptable, they demand strong action and, importantly, they understand that if we’re serious about reducing the harms, we need to embrace evidence-based measures that save lives and make our communities safer.

As this latest polling makes very clear, these harm-reduction measures are in fact hugely popular.

The magnitude of the great task ahead of us should not diminish the importance of taking the first step; of supporting governments and policymakers with the leadership and foresight to set things in motion today which will contribute towards a safer and healthier culture in the future.

The Courier-Mail contends that “you can’t legislate against stupidity but you can educate against it”.

You can educate against stupidity but comprehensive education strategies alone would take generations to take effect.

We know from experience that direct interventions such as modest restrictions on alcohol availability catalyses positive changes in behaviour. It’s also known to be cost-effective and will deliver early results.

Queenslanders don’t want to wait and shouldn’t have to.

This article first published by the Courier Mail

Photo credits: Mark Calleja