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QUEENSLAND
Bar None
Monday, 13 April, 2009
Bar None (Living Black, SBS)
Drinking has become one of Australia's ubiquitous pastimes. But in Queensland's Palm Island, there's nowhere to buy grog and bringing in mid-strength beer is strictly limited and policed.
In pictures: Behind the scenes with Yaara on Palm Island
Your say: Should Palm Island's tavern reopen?
Watch the video
The demand, however, is still there. Locals report seeing a rise in grog running and a lucrative black market in beer. Some locals are even travelling by boat to the mainland to get their fill. It's a dangerous journey.
"People do risk their life to come across [to the mainland]" says Palm Island resident Eddie Walsh. "We're just like every other Australian. We want a drink, you know" he says.
Palm Island's Mayor, Alf Lacey, says sly-grogging was inevitable: "If you don't have an outlet on Palm Island then what do you do? We can't drive down the road to the next hotel" he says.
While most people on the island are keen for their tavern to re-open, police say alcohol-related crime has fallen significantly. Since the tavern closed late last year, the Kootana Women's Centre takes in a fraction of the domestic violence victims it used to house.
Join Living Black video journalist Yaara Bou Melhem and meet the Palm Island locals going to extraordinary lengths to get a drink.
TRANSCRIPT
Palm Island has been under tighter alcohol restrictions since late last year. The Queensland Government is hoping the bans will reduce rates of crime on the island. But in the process relations between authorities and locals have become even more tense. Now, some residents are going to extraordinary lengths to get a drink as video journalist Yaara Bou-Melhem reports.
VOICEOVER: Palm Island - beautiful, scenic, isolated. Another gem off Queensland's coast, but one with a troubled past. Presently there are troubles of a different kind. Increasingly, locals have been using the sea for something other than fishing and swimming.
EDDIE WALSH, PALM ISLAND RESIDENT: Righto, let's go, head to Australia. Let's see if we can get some beer.
VOICEOVER: I'm joining Eddie Walsh and his friends as they make their way over to the mainland. We're travelling 30 kilometres west of Palm Island to Forrest Beach. Lately, locals have been making this journey a lot more often.
EDDIE WALSH: People risking their lives. They won't let us have a pub, then we'll go where there is a pub.
VOICEOVER: Palm Island has been subject to alcohol restrictions for almost three years. But the noose was tightened further when Palm Island's only licensed venue was forced to shut down late last year. Its tavern closed its doors after new Queensland laws prohibiting local councils from running and profiting from canteens came into force. A private partnership applied to take over the tavern's liquor license before it shut.
ALF LACEY, PALM ISLAND MAYOR: There's been a commitment given two weeks before the State government election that a license will be sorted for Palm at least by the end of March.
VOICEOVER: Living Black approached the Queensland Government for an interview on several occasions but our request has gone unanswered. Alf Lacey has accused it of delaying the application process.
ALF LACEY: I think bringing in a secret form of prohibition doesn't work in any community around the world. We're entitled to drink, we're entitled to enjoy good drink, like every other Australian and I think it's really important that if there's more laws on top of laws then one would begin to think, "Are these laws being developed only for Indigenous Australians?:"
VOICEOVER: For now, those who want to legally drink on the island travel to the mainland and bring grog back. People who come to Palm on the public ferry are allowed one carton of light or mid-strength beer per person. But each plane or boat arrival is limited to one carton, regardless of how many people are travelling. Breaking these laws can carry fines of up to $75,000 and possibly jail. Locals say police are often waiting at the ferry terminal to check passengers are carrying the legal limit.
LAURIE BOURNE, PALM ISLAND RESIDENT: They're normally here, in numbers here, the four or five, and they're checking everyone's bag before they go off. That's the detectives there.
VOICEOVER: Some locals say the police target Indigenous people in their searches.
ALF LACEY: I'm certainly not happy with the Queensland police service - it breaches human rights I suppose.
SENIOR SERGEANT PAUL JAMES, PALM ISLAND POLICE: Naturally a lot of people don't like their bags being searched through. We certainly don't get any joy out of doing it either.
VOICEOVER: But Senior Sergeant James says a search is conducted when it's believed someone is carrying illicit alcohol.
SENIOR SERGEANT PAUL JAMES: Certainly a lot of people on the island provide us with information of people bringing over liquor. As a result of that we do find a lot of restricted liquor coming into the island.
VOICEOVER: Eddie says the alcohol restrictions have even extended off Palm Island. Purchases of more than one carton of beer are recorded by the Forrest Beach hotel.
EDDIE WALSH: You sign this book, let 'em know how much grog you're buying, where you're going with it and the police come down and they check that book and see who's been here buying grog and how much they've got. Then they know what boat to search.
VOICEOVER: Eddie is finally enjoying his beer.
EDDIE WALSH: People do risk their life to come across here and these are the things they gotta put up with just to get a drink because they got no pub on the island. We're just like every other Australian - we want a drink, you know.
VOICEOVER: It's the only one he has before he makes the journey home with a carton in tow. Eddie's friends will drink half a dozen beers on the way back to Palm Island. They'll be within the legal limit, but that's not always the case for other locals. Lifeguards on Forrest Beach say they get at least a dozen dinghies coming in from Palm Island every week with people looking to buy alcohol. Some have taken to making a dangerous journey at night to avoid detection and sly-grogging is now on the increase.
EDDIE WALSH: People go across here all the time through the week, mainly at night, just to buy some grog - maybe sell it - come back and sell it. People can't get it over here, so they'll come sell it to them. Astronomical prices, like $170 a carton.
ALF LACEY: We can't drive down the road to the next hotel so naturally people are going to go to the mainland by boat or by plane and bring extra supplies back to the community. Naturally it's going to create a sly-grogging system.
VOICEOVER: Local police say they're combating sly-grogging on the island and that the tavern's closure has seen a decline in alcohol-related crime.
SENIOR SERGEANT PAUL JAMES: Most of our work here is what we call offences against the person, whether it's domestic violence offences, or assaults - things like that. But over the last couple of months there's definitely been a decrease.
IRIS CANNON, KOOTANA WOMEN'S CENTRE: This year we've only had one, two, three, four, maybe eight clients - mainly homeless women.
VOICEOVER: The Kootana Women's Centre used to take in at least a dozen domestic violence victims a month. The population here is just over 2,000. But since the pub closed it's only had four women knocking on its doors.
IRIS CANNON: Compared with last year's stats - we had heaps. We filed all these - these are clients in here - these are records, I think it's about 15 in each.
VOICEOVER: In each month?
IRIS CANNON: Yeah.
VOICEOVER: The women's centre says, despite its decrease, violence still mars the island.
IRIS CANNON: There's still alcohol out there. People are still buying their drinks, still having their parties, at home now - different area of the island. That hasn't stopped.
VOICEOVER: Eddie Walsh admits violence is on the decline on the island but says some residents are facing other risks.
EDDIE WALSH: It has decreased with no grog and stuff, but it also has made things dangerous for local people to travel and stuff.
VOICEOVER: While many locals here understand that alcohol is a catalyst for some of the community's problems, they feel robbed of their right to choose.
Source: Living Black, SBS
In pictures: Behind the scenes with Yaara on Palm Island
Your say: Should Palm Island's tavern reopen?
Watch the video
The demand, however, is still there. Locals report seeing a rise in grog running and a lucrative black market in beer. Some locals are even travelling by boat to the mainland to get their fill. It's a dangerous journey.
"People do risk their life to come across [to the mainland]" says Palm Island resident Eddie Walsh. "We're just like every other Australian. We want a drink, you know" he says.
Palm Island's Mayor, Alf Lacey, says sly-grogging was inevitable: "If you don't have an outlet on Palm Island then what do you do? We can't drive down the road to the next hotel" he says.
While most people on the island are keen for their tavern to re-open, police say alcohol-related crime has fallen significantly. Since the tavern closed late last year, the Kootana Women's Centre takes in a fraction of the domestic violence victims it used to house.
Join Living Black video journalist Yaara Bou Melhem and meet the Palm Island locals going to extraordinary lengths to get a drink.
TRANSCRIPT
Palm Island has been under tighter alcohol restrictions since late last year. The Queensland Government is hoping the bans will reduce rates of crime on the island. But in the process relations between authorities and locals have become even more tense. Now, some residents are going to extraordinary lengths to get a drink as video journalist Yaara Bou-Melhem reports.
VOICEOVER: Palm Island - beautiful, scenic, isolated. Another gem off Queensland's coast, but one with a troubled past. Presently there are troubles of a different kind. Increasingly, locals have been using the sea for something other than fishing and swimming.
EDDIE WALSH, PALM ISLAND RESIDENT: Righto, let's go, head to Australia. Let's see if we can get some beer.
VOICEOVER: I'm joining Eddie Walsh and his friends as they make their way over to the mainland. We're travelling 30 kilometres west of Palm Island to Forrest Beach. Lately, locals have been making this journey a lot more often.
EDDIE WALSH: People risking their lives. They won't let us have a pub, then we'll go where there is a pub.
VOICEOVER: Palm Island has been subject to alcohol restrictions for almost three years. But the noose was tightened further when Palm Island's only licensed venue was forced to shut down late last year. Its tavern closed its doors after new Queensland laws prohibiting local councils from running and profiting from canteens came into force. A private partnership applied to take over the tavern's liquor license before it shut.
ALF LACEY, PALM ISLAND MAYOR: There's been a commitment given two weeks before the State government election that a license will be sorted for Palm at least by the end of March.
VOICEOVER: Living Black approached the Queensland Government for an interview on several occasions but our request has gone unanswered. Alf Lacey has accused it of delaying the application process.
ALF LACEY: I think bringing in a secret form of prohibition doesn't work in any community around the world. We're entitled to drink, we're entitled to enjoy good drink, like every other Australian and I think it's really important that if there's more laws on top of laws then one would begin to think, "Are these laws being developed only for Indigenous Australians?:"
VOICEOVER: For now, those who want to legally drink on the island travel to the mainland and bring grog back. People who come to Palm on the public ferry are allowed one carton of light or mid-strength beer per person. But each plane or boat arrival is limited to one carton, regardless of how many people are travelling. Breaking these laws can carry fines of up to $75,000 and possibly jail. Locals say police are often waiting at the ferry terminal to check passengers are carrying the legal limit.
LAURIE BOURNE, PALM ISLAND RESIDENT: They're normally here, in numbers here, the four or five, and they're checking everyone's bag before they go off. That's the detectives there.
VOICEOVER: Some locals say the police target Indigenous people in their searches.
ALF LACEY: I'm certainly not happy with the Queensland police service - it breaches human rights I suppose.
SENIOR SERGEANT PAUL JAMES, PALM ISLAND POLICE: Naturally a lot of people don't like their bags being searched through. We certainly don't get any joy out of doing it either.
VOICEOVER: But Senior Sergeant James says a search is conducted when it's believed someone is carrying illicit alcohol.
SENIOR SERGEANT PAUL JAMES: Certainly a lot of people on the island provide us with information of people bringing over liquor. As a result of that we do find a lot of restricted liquor coming into the island.
VOICEOVER: Eddie says the alcohol restrictions have even extended off Palm Island. Purchases of more than one carton of beer are recorded by the Forrest Beach hotel.
EDDIE WALSH: You sign this book, let 'em know how much grog you're buying, where you're going with it and the police come down and they check that book and see who's been here buying grog and how much they've got. Then they know what boat to search.
VOICEOVER: Eddie is finally enjoying his beer.
EDDIE WALSH: People do risk their life to come across here and these are the things they gotta put up with just to get a drink because they got no pub on the island. We're just like every other Australian - we want a drink, you know.
VOICEOVER: It's the only one he has before he makes the journey home with a carton in tow. Eddie's friends will drink half a dozen beers on the way back to Palm Island. They'll be within the legal limit, but that's not always the case for other locals. Lifeguards on Forrest Beach say they get at least a dozen dinghies coming in from Palm Island every week with people looking to buy alcohol. Some have taken to making a dangerous journey at night to avoid detection and sly-grogging is now on the increase.
EDDIE WALSH: People go across here all the time through the week, mainly at night, just to buy some grog - maybe sell it - come back and sell it. People can't get it over here, so they'll come sell it to them. Astronomical prices, like $170 a carton.
ALF LACEY: We can't drive down the road to the next hotel so naturally people are going to go to the mainland by boat or by plane and bring extra supplies back to the community. Naturally it's going to create a sly-grogging system.
VOICEOVER: Local police say they're combating sly-grogging on the island and that the tavern's closure has seen a decline in alcohol-related crime.
SENIOR SERGEANT PAUL JAMES: Most of our work here is what we call offences against the person, whether it's domestic violence offences, or assaults - things like that. But over the last couple of months there's definitely been a decrease.
IRIS CANNON, KOOTANA WOMEN'S CENTRE: This year we've only had one, two, three, four, maybe eight clients - mainly homeless women.
VOICEOVER: The Kootana Women's Centre used to take in at least a dozen domestic violence victims a month. The population here is just over 2,000. But since the pub closed it's only had four women knocking on its doors.
IRIS CANNON: Compared with last year's stats - we had heaps. We filed all these - these are clients in here - these are records, I think it's about 15 in each.
VOICEOVER: In each month?
IRIS CANNON: Yeah.
VOICEOVER: The women's centre says, despite its decrease, violence still mars the island.
IRIS CANNON: There's still alcohol out there. People are still buying their drinks, still having their parties, at home now - different area of the island. That hasn't stopped.
VOICEOVER: Eddie Walsh admits violence is on the decline on the island but says some residents are facing other risks.
EDDIE WALSH: It has decreased with no grog and stuff, but it also has made things dangerous for local people to travel and stuff.
VOICEOVER: While many locals here understand that alcohol is a catalyst for some of the community's problems, they feel robbed of their right to choose.
Source: Living Black, SBS
