Northern Territory Chief Minister Natasha Fyles says the government will open expressions of interest for the voluntary buy-back of grocery store-based liquor licences in the territory.
The move is the latest in a series of measures introduced by the NT government aimed at reducing alcohol-related violence, and follows the fatal stabbing of 20-year-old Declan Laverty at a Darwin bottle shop earlier this month.
The NT government last week announced a range of law and order initiatives including high-visibility police patrols at known crime hotspots, and yesterday passed amendments in parliament to the Bail Act for violent offences involving edged weapons.
Ms Fyles this morning said the voluntary buy-back scheme for grocery store liquor licences was an opportunity to reduce alcohol sales in the community.
"I've had licensees say to me that they would consider handing back their licences if there was monetary compensation, so we're putting out a four-week expression of interest to test and see if people do hand back their licences," she said.
"We know that less licences means less alcohol and less alcohol-related harm in our community."
There are about 50 grocery store liquor licences in the Northern Territory.
These licences require that such premises are part of a primary business that sells groceries or other non-liquor items.
New licences stopped being issued in 2019, in line with a recommendation from the Riley Review into the Northern Territory's alcohol policies.
The same review also led to liquor sales at licensed grocery stores being capped at 25 per cent of their overall revenue.
Ms Fyles said grocery store liquor licences were not always used as intended, saying some stores with these licences had "morphed into pseudo takeaway outlets".
She said any licences bought back under the scheme would not be sold on.
"It's an opportunity to remove these licences from our community," she said.
"We often know that these licences cause harm in small communities, that they use alcohol sales to potentially prop up that business.
"That was not the way these licenses were designed, and it's not the way they should operate."
Ms Fyles said the government had not yet determined a final cost for any buy-backs, saying only that the government would compensate stores to a "reasonable amount".
"We will take it on a case-by-case basis," she said.
"We know the profit that is made, we know the volumes — they do vary depending on the size of the store — so we'll work through it in a respectful way."
Alcohol sales 'a support mechanism'
Manfred Mletsin runs a small grocery stall in the Darwin suburb of Nightcliff, which sells a boutique range of wine and craft beers.
Whether he accepts the buy-back or not will depend on "what is being offered" by the government.
"It depends, in terms of negotiations," he said.
"I'm not looking in three, six months … or a year's time. I'm looking with my lease, which is about 10 years … is it going to be viable for my business?
"It's not heavily reliant on alcohol, but it's a support mechanism."
Shlok Sharma, the NT director of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association, which represents retail workers, previously said the union was open to the idea.
"I think it's important that the government leaves all options on the table," he said.
"If there are bad actors out there, I think they should consider taking back liquor licences from those who aren't complying with our liquor laws."
Support for scheme in health sector
Community organisations across the Northern Territory, including Aboriginal Medical Services Alliances Northern Territory (AMSANT) and the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA), have welcomed the government's announcement.
"We hope to see many operators of these businesses sign up to the scheme," AMSANT acting chief executive Dr Donna Ah Chee said.
"We need to be doing all we can to prevent our families and communities from the many harms from alcohol and companies and retailers need to also take responsibility for their role in driving this harm.
"Reducing the number and density of places where alcohol is sold is an evidence-based measure to reduce alcohol harm and we welcome this action by the NT government."
NAAJA chief executive Dr John Paterson said the licence buy-backs would have a positive impact.
"We welcome this effort by the NT government to address the substantial harm caused by the inappropriate density of liquor outlets," he said.
"We also think that more needs to be done to ensure that we're tackling the obscene amounts of liquor licences that exist across the Northern Territory which are driving this harm."
Darwin Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis has previously called for liquor licence buy-backs as a measure that could help reduce crime in the Darwin area.
He welcomed the new scheme, though he said other solutions were also needed.
"It's the right step in the right direction," he said.
"We have to protect the community, but also we have to somehow protect these people who are losing their lives to alcohol. It's a whole consequence of events because of alcohol, and it's time to put a stop to it.
"By reducing the rivers of grog, the availability of the rivers of grog, I think will be a very good thing for our community."
