Surprise and anger in the alcohol industry over new restrictive alcohol sale measures in NT
There's been surprise and anger within the alcohol industry, after the NT government announced new measures to crack down on alcohol abuse in Darwin. While the government says it needs to be agile amid rising crime rates, small businesses say they've been caught off guard by the changes.
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TVTranscript
00:00 A newly recruited minister meets the newest recruits in blue.
00:05 You're going to have a great career.
00:06 But while 35 new officers start their training, the union representing them has accused the
00:12 government of trying to also train second tier police by arming bottle shop security
00:17 guards with capsicum spray.
00:19 There's been no discussion about how this prohibited weapon is going to be controlled,
00:24 how it's going to be carried to the workplace if it's going to be in a private vehicle where
00:28 it's going to be secured.
00:30 We've got some serious concerns about it.
00:32 The police union and Hospitality NT say they only got 10 minutes heads up about major alcohol
00:38 policy reform announced yesterday.
00:41 At the moment these guys, they are governing for polls.
00:46 Neither peak bodies are celebrating a new trial of shortening opening hours for Darwin
00:50 bottle shops.
00:52 And Hospitality NT claims the chief minister promised no changes to alcohol policy just
00:57 last week.
00:58 The biggest impact of the chief minister's actions yesterday go to her honesty and integrity.
01:05 This nightcliff business was also caught off guard by the sudden shorter hours.
01:09 That was absolutely sudden and there was absolutely no consultation with us.
01:14 The ABC has spoken to multiple bottle shop operators today, all of whom said they weren't
01:19 aware the changes were coming.
01:21 But the government is standing by its reforms.
01:23 The police minister saying that their urgency underscores the need to act quickly amid rising
01:28 crime rates.
01:29 Things are dynamic.
01:30 Things change.
01:31 We have to be adaptive.
01:32 We have to accept sometimes we got it wrong.
01:33 With a long summer ahead, the government will be hoping its steps will work.
01:37 [BLANK_AUDIO]