Aborigines Respect New Liquor Law

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30559, 30 September 1964, Page 24

Aborigines Respect New Liquor Law

(Special Crspdt. N.Z..P.A) SYDNEY, Sept. 29. The Northern Territory’s 18,000 Aborigines have pleased the Administration there with the way they have conducted themselves since being given full rights a fortnight ago. In their first week as “free” citizens the Aborigines committed fewer breaches of the liquor laws than when they were forbidden alcohol. Critics of the new social laws had said the Northern Territory would not have enough police to deal with trouble likely to result from legalised drinking, but the reverse was the case. At Alice Springs, Darwin, Tennant Creek, Katerine and other centres drinking Aborigines gave less trouble than usual, and convictions on liquor offences were well below average. There were no unpleasant incidents involving Europeans. The Social Welfare Act, passed by the Northern Territory Legislative Council recently, abolishes legal distinctions separating Aborigines from other Australians. Complementary legislation enables Aborigines to own

property, control their own affairs, qualify for assistance if in need and, finally enter a hotel and buy liquor Australia as a whole has yet to come to grips with its minority problem. Because the federal constitution precludes the Commonwealth from making laws for Aborigines in the states, there are six sets of legislation and six definitions of Aborigines. The legal status and definition of the country’s 102,000 Aborigines vary from state to state.