Public drunkenness may become a crime in the Northern Territory as the government plans to wind back recommendations from the Aboriginal deaths in custody royal commission.
Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro is reintroducing laws that will give police the powers to search and arrest people drinking in public, while also reducing the cost of alcohol.
A minimum unit price of $1.30 per drink was introduced under the former Labor government to try and reduce alcohol-related violence.
Ms Finocchiaro has promised to wind back the floor price and instead "target nuisance drinkers".
"A big part of the offending that causes so much harm to the Northern Territory is around alcohol-fuelled violence, and we know that nuisance public drinking has become a major issue no matter where you go in the territory," the chief minister told reporters.
"We will now give police the powers to be able to ask people for their name, for their ID, which then means they can run searches of their outstanding warrants.
"If there are bail conditions or domestic violence orders in place, it allows police to fine people up to $925 and even arrest them if the case requires."
Public drinking laws in the NT were reformed in 2019 by Labor, in line with recommendations from the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.
Victoria has since become the first state to fully decriminalise public drunkenness and instead funded a public health response.
When asked which experts were consulted before introducing the laws, Ms Finocchiaro said her mandate was "was overwhelmingly supported by 250,000 Territorians" who voted for the Country Liberal Party.
Medical experts have raised concerns, saying the laws will target Aboriginal people and lead to an increase in drinking.
Alcohol and Drugs Association NT executive officer Stephanie Holmes said alcohol-attributed death rates for Indigenous Territorians were 10 times higher than the national average.
"Minimum unit pricing is an example of a highly successful policy that has made the community safer, reduced alcohol-related harms and hospital admissions and saved taxpayers money," she said.
"(It) has resulted in a 14 per cent decline in alcohol-related assaults in Darwin (and) across the NT has reduced alcohol-related emergency department presentations by 19 per cent."
The decision also comes amid plans to reinstate mandatory alcohol rehabilitation, which was found under the last CLP government to have "dubious applications".
In a report published by the Menzies School of Health, it said the "tight time-frames and politically charged environment" led to a lack of program logic.
"The iterant nature of those targeted, without strategies to address their social determinants and risk factors, resulted in many cycling in and out of the program," the report said.
"Further reviews highlighted that the policy was not cost effective, employed dubious application of a medical intervention, and had serious legal and ethical implications."
