Alcohol abuse an ‘unfolding tragedy’: pastors lobby governments for action

Twenty-four Central Australian Lutheran pastors have called on government leaders to take urgent action about alcohol abuse in Alice Springs.

In a co-signed letter to federal government ministers (including the prime minister), shadow ministers, senators and senior Northern Territory MLAs, the pastors described ‘the unfolding tragedy’ in the Centre and requested the federal and territory governments to reduce the all-day trade in alcohol in Alice Springs, close ‘hidden bars’, designate one day a week on which no takeaway alcohol can be sold, and better manage welfare payments in order to restrict the purchase of alcohol.

Representing over 5000 Lutherans in fifteen congregations, the pastors minister across seven language groups, including Western Arrarnta, Luritja, Pitjantjatjarra, Pintubi, Alyawarr, Anmatyerr and English.

They said that the alcohol problem is so immense that many children are attending up to ten funerals a year for relatives and friends whose deaths have been the direct result of the overconsumption of alcohol.

‘By the time some of our children are ten years old they may have been to a hundred funerals’, the statement said. ‘We spend so much of our time burying our people. When we discuss the commandment “you shall not kill” and ask our children if they know anyone who has been killed, so often every child puts up their hand.

‘Consumption of alcohol during pregnancy kills many more. So many of our young mothers bury their children soon after they are born. When we visit the Alice Springs cemetery we are confronted by row after row of stillborn graves. Only in a death camp has the western world ever seen such a burial ground!’

Alice Springs has the largest renal dialysis unit in the southern hemisphere, and another has recently been built. One reason so many people are dialysed is that alcohol addiction prevents patients from managing their diabetes treatment. The result is kidney failure on an unprecedented scale across tribes and families.

The pastors said that they supported current measures undertaken by the Northern Territory government in its ‘Enough is enough’ campaign but added that they desired an end to the endemic over-consumption by the many people who will not be impacted by the new legislation.

‘Alcohol oversupply and overconsumption is generating a fundamental crisis of health and well-being, of which “anti-social behavior” is only one factor’, the pastors said.

‘We therefore call on the NT and federal governments to take serious and effective measures to reduce the all-day trade in alcohol in Alice Springs, which is contributing to the death and destruction of so many of the members of our churches.’

The statement asked the governments to ban bar sales before 11.30 am in order to create at least one part of the day which is effectively alcohol-free. Currently Alice Springs bars trade from 10.00 am onwards and are often full by midday. They also called for the hidden bars, ‘which target hundreds of congregational members on a daily basis’, to be closed.

‘The effectively segregated bars at the Todd Tavern and at the Gap View Hotel hide this trade from the rest of the community, masking the size, scope and volume of a trade whose result is the destruction of the lives of so many of our people young and old.’

The pastors also asked that for one day of the week no takeaway alcohol is available for sale anywhere in Alice Springs. ‘A weekly break from takeaway consumption is likely to greatly assist the health of many of our families’, they said.

‘In addition we ask that the government find a way to manage welfare payments so that those whose lives are being destroyed by addiction are not able to spend payments on alcohol.

‘We spend so much of our lives burying our families and young people’, the pastor concluded. ‘We ask and pray for your help.’