Victorians vote for action on alcohol

The message from Victorian voters is loud and clear – they want a commitment from the State Government for action on alcohol, and they want the major parties to outline plans to address alcohol harms before heading to the booths at the upcoming election.

Recent polling conducted by Galaxy Research, on behalf of the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE), has shown that the Victorian public strongly supports the view long held by many health professionals and emergency service workers: that the State Government urgently needs to respond to their alcohol problem.

Research consistently points to the unavoidable fact that alcohol is Victoria’s most harmful drug. Alcohol-related harms across the State continue to be of a far greater magnitude than all other illicit drugs combined.

A month out from an election you would rightly expect such a concerning health issue to feature prominently on the political agenda, to see our representatives competing for votes based on promises to minimise the prevalence of senseless alcohol-fuelled violence and the detrimental health costs of excessive drinking.

And yet, there has been a distinct lack of alcohol policy commitments in the election announcements of the major parties and an unwillingness to discuss the true extent of its harms.

This evasive behaviour has not gone unnoticed, with polling results revealing a growing discontent with the political inaction.

The majority of Victorians think their Government should be doing more to reduce alcohol-related street violence (77%) and domestic violence (76%), to prevent risky alcohol consumption among underage drinkers (73%), and to decrease the high numbers of emergency department hospital presentations attributed to alcohol (67%).

But in a further vote of no confidence, Victorians don’t seem to think that either of the major parties are up to the task. When asked who would be best at reducing alcohol-related harms, only 17 per cent of voters recommended the Coalition, 16 per cent the Labor Party, and ten per cent the Greens. The majority of voters (57%) were uncertain.

It’s no surprise that Victorians are unsure as to which party would be best at reducing alcohol harms, because to date, the two major parties have remained silent on the matter. Disappointingly, only weeks out from an election we still don’t know what, if any, meaningful action the parties are prepared to take in order to respond to this issue.

What we do know is that an overwhelming majority of Victorian voters, three out of every four polled, are now calling on party leaders Denis Napthine and Daniel Andrews to step forward before the election and put their plans to address alcohol-related harms on the table.

These polling insights should serve as a harsh wake-up call to the Victorian Government and the Opposition, a reminder that they can no longer ignore the concerns of their community.

Victoria has more alcohol licenses than any other state or territory in Australia and this is contributing to significant harms including three deaths, 18 assaults and 81 hospitalisations each day. Voters are all too aware of these harms and are starting to question the government’s failure to reduce them.

What we need to see is firm commitments for evidence-based policy measures that effectively combat the availability of liquor and subsequent alcohol-related violence. This includes 3am last drinks, a 10pm close for packaged liquor outlets, and a continued freeze on the granting of new liquor licences.

As the Victorian election fast approaches, it’s time for the State Government and Opposition to finally acknowledge the State’s growing alcohol problem. Politicians need to stand up and tell the people of Victoria what they intend to do, if elected, to address alcohol harms.