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. / 1 1 r -? 'i {~^ i. f^y5 v 0 ? dch bloke wou d y an uip ror Yalatar h 3 -fc- the struggle of an Aboriginal community to control the availability of alcohol
This is an historical account of one Aboh p- Maggie Brady 6m^l community md its attempts to control the availabifc ^ The Australim National UnivcrsitT.', Canberra of alcohol to, its iTLembers. The con ^"Y^miunityisYciJaia/a4- settlement on the far western coast of South Austria with a fluctuating population of between 150 and 300 foe Byrne Pitjsntjatjara and Yankunytjatjara-speaking people. It lies 200 km west of Ceduna/ the nearest majo/town Southern Flewieu Health Service, Victor Harbour f (population 3500 in 2001), snd 47 km from the nearest 0 liquor outlet/ a roadhouse and motel called Nundroo. The Eyre Highway/ which takes travellers and high- Graham Henderson speed interstate vehicles between Port Augusta mrhe0 east/ and Perth m the west/ passes the doorstep of the AWSIS, Canberra community Yalata is located on a 456 150-hedare parcel of land owned by the South Australian Aboriginal Lands Trust that is leased back to the community (Figure 1). Abstract: Legislation to restrict the supply of rlcohol has Yalata was created in 1952 as a displaced persons been intYoducU in many rural communities across camp for Aborigmal people who had been associated Ar,siralia over the past ten to fifteen years. Overr.ll these with the unired Aborigines Mission (UAM) at Ooldea restrictions have been ct the mstzgatian of Abor^inal ^ the ^north. " detailed social history of South
/-I <-' ""If rr/ ^> ,f /T1.-3 ,1 sii l/L v 0 groups. This paper records the history of ike 66iC 'J L//~(-L Australia (including Yalata) during the period Aboriginal community in South Australia to restrict the 1550-79 has been^ written by Eriscoe (i931). Yaiata J, ready a-oailabzlity of harmful amounts of alcohol to its residents refer to themselves as /Anangu// although0 0 residents. Sixteen years after the first tentative attempts to ^V are drawn from a variety of Western Desert control supply, the commv.nity succeeded in ^lining legal groups that previously travelled m the spmuex ^,,, ^ ^,_ "-, ^, "" ^ ^ ^ons to the_north and northwest. These peoples ^ During this period the commwiiiy suffered great hardship, ^a<^ visited Ooldea soak (a highly significant with many individuals expenencmg poor health or ceremonial site and source of water) for centuries/ but
premature death as a' result of excessive alcohol ^ad ^een driven out of the desert regions by drought. ./ cor^mrption. Now^ twelve years after the legislation was which^meant thatmcreasmg numbers were attracted enacisd, there is evidence that the community is a safer and to T^-e UA-M' establishment ar Ooldea and the promise better -place to live for its residents. of food supplies. Mrs Daisy Bates had lived in a tent
at Ooldea between 1919 and 1935, documenting& local languages and social organisation and providing some limited assistance to persons there (Brady 1987; Gara et al 1988). In June 19.53, a year after the UAM imssion v.-as closed, a location 50 km northwest of Ooldea was announced as a major resting site for British nuclear devices on the Australian mainland. It came to be
called Maralinga. Maralinga and surrounding 0 lands-the trsdmonal lands of the desert peoples
62 Aiistralic-m Aboriginal0 Studiss 2003/2
^T .f ^< .^ ? T u» -a V--- ^f S^-w < S.3; T3S3¥' ^ .V ^ .^ ??. ^ fB?F 5^ ? -^ f 'I r^i ^s^. 1 t-h S°s 1»^E' .^i y '>.< » 1 's^ y f. '. . ^ s-;-^ ^° ^ s^ F» :^ ^ r !fe^ .% ^' 11 -< J* 's 'Ci I' f ?s*iK fc'h SS* * ill -* JC. < .^ 's. 1 k*AJ*": m a^^ ^ Jr w: 'm I '^ fr£ r4' ^T^ '-.^. I- '*» IS§ST~ .^* §? ^^ * a;- v '^E f, ^N ^..K '-F"'^ ^:*? w", * *» 1 ^ /V'T-ich b'o'u : .Quid sr-;^ \'.yfc '^-.L-!' -S.: ^-, Byme . ^d Henderson -.~t 1» J m f 1:.- -. *. .». .t * ? ^ '-. 1.3 r-r ^v 1 ^ Ml AUSTRALIA Ol.D \ , -L *f VIA Z-r~ SA L.- ^ * --/ \ -L.- ^i HSV:' \ .4. h.. \ V)C & 1DOO h yiDms^EE V-AS ,^-'- O!) WOOMERA A.iiftSi T^ .J! ,400 ^s-ss PROHIBITED ^WN.»Mci ratings -. .< T- -rfU..-^? 'S ^ffl / / / / ulaurm MJSTEAUA f / / ; f / / ./ 1^ lr/'?^.//'^L^TA '^^'^VjS'^ ? .^ -* y \'ALAT.\ h." LAND ^ / were declared prohibited areas and access to them from later political developments among the Was. blocked, throughout and following the testing. PrEjan-tjatjara/ Ngaanyatjarra and YarLkunyqarjara. With the closure of Ooldea mission m 1952, the people In the 1950s, rhess displaced desert peoples --F-vere reluctantly resssembled at Yalata on the edge of found themselves to be the only tradition-oriented tite Nullarbor, to be supervised by missionaries from Aboriginal population of South Ausrralia/s far the local Lutheran evangelical fellowship, The ex- western coast region. The impact of settling three Ooldea Aborigines were Aus separated geographf- hundred Aborigines at Yalata Mission has been felt ail cally, socially and spu'irually from the region they over the West Coast/and/particularly in recent years/ ^riev: best^ n'oni. their kin to th0 noith and west/ and in Ceduna'/ observed a historian of the area (Fault / ^ .7 Azi.strdion Abori^ial6 Studies 2003/2 6; T-CTpr 0 I -1 >r-1 L. T I .' J '.'' . i '^ " * ^ ^1; J ./ , 938:329). The new neiglibours to these Anangu v;.jre prohibited; ^^hen dripJ Ceduna because there'd be hitcl-iliikers traveHing & Early contact with alcohol through who didn't mind a few quid, few extra pounds so of course wine wasn't very dear in them days but they used t'o get anything up to ten pounds extra for his alcohol \va.s an integral0 featzire of White settlement in he area/ but its consumption by Aboriginal peoples problems. But/ if he was caught, there was no option, six mcmrhs/ straight0 off/ first offence even. las lon.ff0 been the focus of local attention, a focus that ?ersiste to the present. Drunkenness among the entire He also recalled that when it became difficult to nale (Whii-e) population at Fowlers Bay was evid- obtain methylated spmts/ the only option was for ntly common in the 1880s -vvhen boats such as the meths drinkers to buy camping- stoves i-hat came with -.race D^'lm: brought supplies of bottled beer (Faull a borrle of spirits; they would throw away the stove 988). Indeed/the man in charge of the Fowlers Bay and drink the fuel. Both Aboriginal and0 non- dice station for 17 years/ remembered as one of the Aboriginal commentators believe that the restrictions -'-.-' r-- 1. real pioneering policemen of South Australia/ was nn. le,^.I sccess to alcohol contributed i-ij a 0 A a Ad5L/ n alcoholic who was Forced to leave the post in secretive and desperate style of consumption/ isgrace (Faull 1988:49) In 1901, land was surveyed/ observed by Jeremy Beckett in the 1950s (Beckett i rodaimed and named as Ceduna, and a liquor 1964), as well as by a Ceduna man (Brady field tape f^- "^ ence was granted that same year to the Ceduna KA10/ 1992); ^otel even before the building had been completed. i 1910 a hotel was licensed at Fenon^/ west of V/e drank then to get drunk because there was no point/ &/ v eduna/ and in 1925 a local poll voted (53r for/ 37 say if you Jiad a bottle of wine unopened and you never had a drink the police could still come along; and arrebt ^ainst) in favour of another liquor licence at 0 ^evenard/ a grain-Ioading port just outside Ceduna. you for possession of alcohol. So what we did was .\e Thevenard Hotel opened in 1926 with free drinks drink it as fast as we cp.n/ and that pattern of drinking is 1 round (Faull 1988). still around today. So the point was/ if you v.~£r& in a group of people/ the faster drinker would end up When living0 at Ooldea/ Abori^ines0 had had f >oradic access to alcohol thanks to the fettlers and getting drunk or in a position where they wouldn't care her v/orkers on the Trans-AustraIian railway line about the degrading rircumstances which they were in. uilt between 1909 and 1917); alcohol was known as Two years after Aboriginal prohibition v/as la kapi (/fire-water/). When the constru-ction teams revoked in South Australia in April 1.965, the L the railway line nnally met in 1917 -at a point Lutheran mission staff at Yalata initiated .moves to rween Ooldea and Watson sidings^ railway workers obtain a licence to open a beer canteen tl-iere. This/ it lebrated with a large drunken party/according to sn was argued/ would /help the Aboriginal people ierly Yalata man. Until 1965 the consumption of at Yalata to manage their new [diinkmg] rights' ^ :o}T.ol by South Australian Aborigines - was and assist them t to learn to drink in a 'civilised' ^ ^ I- Ar.stralw.n Alioriginal Studies 2003/2 I- ^ r i.'. ^ 7 --.u. tf :!' f ^ » .s. \s .* ""i:ich. jW.-.e-.'- -1c: si:.,d i-;- fcr ^::.-:?'-^rad" B/me ?nd Hsndsrso^.f I > .I * manner (Hampel 1977:37)-an experiment also rhe 1967 Referendum-a litmus test of attitudes +T- .tried occasionally by missionaries in other parts of towards Aborigines (Bennett 1985). -f * -J. Australia (cf McKmgM 2002:78). A licence to sell beer The Lutheran superintenden-i: of Yalata expressed \ 1 and stout was granted& in October 1968, and the Yalata concern when news reached him., in No'Tember 1975 / I canteen officially opened m October 1969, dispensing of tKe imminent licensing of Nundroo. As a result, the a limited ration of beer several days a week to those Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement (ALRM) went to t whose names were on the list. The story of this Yalata to discuss the mat&er. The superintendenr canteen has been told elsewhere (Brady and Palmer reporf'ed that the community was /most definitely 1984). interested' in doin^- something6 about0 the ^ranun.s,-0 of & The most significantb feature of Ae beer radon was this licence/ although it is not0 dear how strong this D that drinkers developed an elaborate system for the feeling was and whether it was in fact the mission i * » p ^rftt-^ redjsrribution of beer. This was achieved by fudging start who were concerned rather than Aboriginal /- :5 the list (by including the names of non-drirLkers and, residents. In the event, no action v.Tas taken and \yW^^ children) so as to increase the supply/ and convening Nundroo obtained its licence unHndered/ allowing it *^ lar^e sames 01 Two Up in which beer cans were to sell two-litre. gla.ss f.la^ons of fortified wine, the ^i 0 0 4. 0 0 gambled/ ensuring that some plciyers won more beer. beverag-e of choke for Aboriginal drinkers. Nundroo ^ Tl-iose who lost then Kad to buy back (at inflated and its liquor sales came to the attention of the House t prices). The availability of alcohol at the canteen of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal never achieved its intended goal,. which was to stem Affairs during its 1976 inquiry (HRSCAA 1976:12): the flow of outside alcohol mto the community. Very serious alcohol probkms arise from. the sale of Despite access to beer three times each week/ drinkers Hquor (especially fla^-ons of wine) to Yalata people at I- persisted in buying, sears ill privately owned cars roadhouses at Nundroo and Nu.llarbor. For example it (known locally as "taxis") in order to make the trip to was reported to the Committee that 90 per cent of bulk f Ceduna for bulk purchases of fortified wine. wine sa.les were to Aboriginals and thai: in one day 170 The canteen lasted for 13 years/J and closed in 1982 T T flsi^ons \>"ere purchased. ro.Uowingf 1 a chan-ge in communny opinion, Uespite '-J A. frequent (and uninvited) proposals from well- Coincidentally/ the Eyre Highway between Ceduna meaning0 outsiders that the canteen should be and Yalata was sealed that year/ making travel reinstated/ the community has consistently resisted between the cwo locations much easier. The police I the idea that alcohol should be available on-sife. later neg-ouated an ag-reement wit-h the licensee t-o a 0 b k stop selling flagons/ so people purchased cartons ^- conrainin^ Ux750ml bottles) of port instead. By 1977 Attempts to control availability a drinker's camp of between 20 and 30 persons had sprung up near Nundroo/ but after a new police Ceduna 'wa.s the main source of bulk supplies or officer arrived at Penong/ firmer action v.ras rgken and alcohol for Yalata drinkers until a roadjiouse at people began co take their port back to be drunk at Nyndroo (47 km away) obtained a licence to .sell Yalata itself. The number of deaths outeeripped births T alcohol in 1976. The Nundroo roadhouse was said to at Yalai-a in 1978, 2979, 1930 and 1981, and between be 'little more than a shack/ furnished with the 1972 and 1982, 29 deaths were alcohol-relate d, 30% of tackiest oddments picked up from heaven knov's all deaths in tlie community (Brady and Palmer 1984). where' (V^hite 1973:145). The place is still knovm t-o By 1981, Yalata residents vere discussing the Yalaca people as /Karinkibie/, the old name of a possibility of freehold title to their lands/ prompred nearby well fKooringibbie Well/is shown on an'18S6 by the development of land rights elsev.7hsre in map/ FauII 1988:56). In the early 1970s i-i: was docum- South Australia and in Australia as a whole. The ented that the manager of Nundroo treated Yalata and Pitj'antjarjara in the north gained freehoJd utis to their i other Aborigines v-ith contempt/ refusing to serve land m March 1981 (Toyne .nd Vachon 1984) and the rhem petrol or let them use the toilets. These matters South Australian ^overnmenr^ad promised to restore .T Jt v. ere made public during the trial of members of a 46 000 sq km of Maralinga lands to Aboriginal control. f Yalata football (-earn involved in a iTacas'there in 1972 In the early 1980s Yalata residents also became \ (White 1973). It seems appropriate to point out that interested in establi.shmg an outstation or decent Ceduna and otl-ier siriafl tovvTns in zhe region had alised camp in the spinifex, north of the r^ilv/ay line. polled some or die highest 'no/ -.-otes m the country in This interest derr'ed from the possibility of gaining f * r. ^usira-li.a.n Abori^r.l'6 Studies 2003/2 65 / ^ - - -^ -.^. k ;:.:!>: .' -i \i '- j7' ,r t M 1 : '..-i ^ f ^[.. 1 .-. L L t r* ^ freehold htle/ but some residents linked their wish to Public Intoxica.tioTi Act declaration r ^-"r^i fc--- Li i3Vfc out of Y^lata -md back to the bu&h ^2th their desire to escape the drinking trouble (Brady 1931). A Yalara community nzeeting in October 19S4 While there was still disruptive drinking over this resolved to request the South Australian Aboriginal period- drunks kept others awake at night-there Lands Trust (which holds the title for the land on was also the competing influence of a renewed behalf of residents) to proclaim the area a public place . jinterest in the land. This took the form of hte-night for the purpose of implementation of the Public * campfire discussion about locations at which people Jntoxi.caiion Act 1984. The police wrote to the Lands could live/ and. also public statements by senior men Trust (9 November 1984) supporting the community encouraging adherence to the Law, The Maralinga in its attempts to declare the area/dry". Section 16A of lands v'ere referred to as ngura mibnil (/sacred the Aboriginal Lands Trust Act was amended so that country'). Ceremonial activity around this time v^ss the definiuon of a public place included portions of keenly pursued. the Yalata lands to allow the Public Intoxication Act The police were regular visitors to the settlement, to apply/ thus enabling, police to apprehend the but claimed in 1981 that it would be impossible to intoxicated/ search vehicles/ and confiscate liquor. have men stationed there/ as it would require five Meanwhile/Yalata people v/ho had moved to the Oak officers to be on call. (Later/ in 1990, a single police ' Valley camp enforced their own drinking; ban by officer was stationed there without any problems.) In living on the lands. Fortified wine continued to be November 1981 an escalation of alcohol-related sold freely from Nundroo and there were discussions violence prompted requests for a police presence, staff about the possibility of objecting to the renewal of protests/ and considerable media attention. There Nundroo/s licence when it came up for reconsidera- were claims that the local alcohol retailer at Nundroo tion in February 1985. was' relying heavily on alcohol sales to Yalata In July 1986, a new Liquor Licensing customers-who spent approximately $8000 per Commissioner/ Andrew Seeker/ met with the inonth there (Adelaide Advertiser 19/11/81; News Department of State Aboriginal Affairs and the 23/U/S1). assistant Con-unissioner of Police to discuss a possible Shortly after this crisis/several changes occurred, ban on take-away sales. The Police Con-m-assioner A revivalist /Aoriginal Christian movement from suggested thai the take-awsy bans could apply to all Western- Australia swepr through the community; three roadhouses along the Eyre Highway: Nundroo/ nmrserous rpeoplec renounced alcohol/ and sales of Nullarbor and Penon^. Seeker0 v/as interested in the bottled wine from Nundroo dropped by 50% (Slacket possibility of seeking restrictions similar to those in 3997; Brady and Palmer 1988). Early in 1982, as a. force since March 1981 at Maria in the north/ which result of the revival/ it was decided to close the banned the purchase of- take-away alcohol by canteen/ ending the beer ration. In May 1982 in s residents of/ or travellers to or from/ the Pitjantjatjara historic move/a party of 66 people left Yalata to camp Lands. This wording avoids any breach of racial at the first embryonic outstation /in the spinifex' on discrimination leg.islation. He offered to- take the the Maralinga Lands/ which was later named Oak matter to the Licensing Court on behalf of the Valley. A Labor government in South Australia community with or without the agreement of the introduced a land rights bill that became law on 21 licensees/and visited the region in September 1986 for March 1984 and the people succeeded in gaining discussions. Seeker also suggested a coinmunity- freehold title to the Lands. In 1984 there were new controlled outlet at Yalata (i.e. the reinstatement of a moves insde within the community to deal with canteen) but Yalata representatives emphatically alcohol. The local police made informal representa" resisted this and instructed the Liquor Commissioner tions to the Nundroo roadhouse manager/asking that that the community simply wanted take-aways for the premises cease selling fortified v.Tine and spirits to their members harmed at Nundroo, Nullarbor and AboriginaJ people from Yalata. TJ^e manager declined Penong. He agreed that any restrictions should be to do so unless other licensed premises along the consistent for all three outlets and proposed a trial highway agreed 1:0 this restriction as well. period of twelve months. Within weeks of the 66 AustraUm. Abcrism&t6 Studies 2003/2 v^"~ 1-v< L n .'^t. ^ *r-: r ~f^' -. ^1 I Ibfc ;-3 ^ * --. -^ It T ":?r-.-!- -1 0 Lt^Jt 1-f J. .. L^ t. J. wk I--. ;:.. .ier^on '\\~f'dch yic'.s u si'.ld ria..d "p fv<' ~;'i~-~;'.';?'-3r . / / Licensing Commissioner's'sympathetic response to coiTLmunity'and they initiated programs to combat it Yalata's concerns/ the Nundroo licensee iniha-ted a The chairman v.Tote to the Aboriginal Lands Trust petition in August/ which awaited signatures inside saymg_that a -complete ban^of liquor over the whole the shop. It read; of the Reserve is ceen BS the best weapon to assist our Please read and people". The Act was amended in August 1990, rights and privileges.;^^^ ^is ^et[uon to ^e^ protect your proHbiting the consumpt1ou/ possession and supply ,-t of liquor on Yalara land/ and applying to all residents PETJTJON. DUE TO THE FACT THAT THE YALATA of Yalata/ including6 non-Aborigmal0 staff. Similar ABORIGINAL COUNCIL ARE PRESENTLY restrictions were being implemented in a number of APPROACHING THE GOVERNMENT LIQUOR other Aboriginal communities at this time (d'Abbs LICENCING AUTHORITY TO AMEND 1990).AND RESTRICT THE LICENCES OF HOTELS ANDThe council also once more attempted ^ ROADHOUSES IN THE VICINITY OF ABORIGINAL& negotiations with the licensee at Nundroo. It LANDS/ THUS DISCRIMINATING AGAINST OTHER requested that the new owners not sell cheap fortified LANDHOLDERS/ RESIDENTS AND TRAVELLING wine either as take-away sales or over-the-counter PUBLICS' RIGHTS AND PJRIVILLEGES [sic], WE THE sales/ a request that was refused by the licensee. The UNDERSIGNED DO HUMBLY PETITION THE con-imunity wrote to the Liquor Commissioner, GOVERNMENT THAT CUTBACK HOTELS AND inviting him0 to discuss with them. bans on the take- ROADHOUSES OFFER A UNIQUE SERVICE TO away sales of fortified wine/ and infonnmg him that THEIR OWN RESIDENTS AND THE TRAVELLING there were plains for a police station to be built in the PUBLIC WHO MAKE UP THE MAJORITY OF comrrmruty. In an attempt to offer drying out and CUSTOMB.RS IN THESE REMOTE AREAS/ AND rehabilitation facilities i-o drinkers (in the absence of a THEREFORE ASK THAT THE GOVERNMENT service or this kind anywhere on the we..! coast)/.the MAKES NO ALTERATIONS TO THE EXISTING council also recommended that the Baroota f:.rm (a CATEGORY OF LICENCE NOV/ BEING HELD.sometime alcohol rehabilitation establishment near Pm 4- \J3^;t Augusta) be reopened. Responding to Yatafa's The Murat Bay District Council (Ceduna) ajtso invitation, the commissioner wrote to the licensee of oldTJ0^!-^ concerns/ prhopo^ed the council believed .T^0^6 that resfririions ZfsSnR^m§ at Nundroo m September ask^ for his views on the outlets closer to Yalata would bring; more placing conditions on his licence that would curtail 0 take-away sale of fortified wines. Aboriginal drinkers info the town. By this stage There was no further action for six months. there were several players involved: Aboriginal ;-. De;:Iop^Co~^(ADC):Ab;riginaI!%a; D^Z:^ tmejhe..ne;l ^°nSm;il potela;des Rights Movement (ALRM)/ the Department of State apprehended people under the. Public Intoxication ASrigM'Affau^ ^cmmunify^tensees;^ A^!hr Mn,A^O],isina;b^lders^ered,i,smisfed^r t^i£^1^^^£T^iT^^'iC^-iun^.iss^oi~L£T^''T]'i-L£T-^ -t-h.^rsJ-*^v^r£l~^£lrQVS ^^^^^l^'^^ ^^^'^^^.^^/T;^^^- T-^^I^I^-'E^^^^^'^I'^'^'^.^.^^ '^'^^^^1- in compii^sta^s^ ;<^w^se;fo; rern^teMaraI?nSaHeflserte^"^^ to remind the council of its concerns for the safety of the case/ which meant that the move to end take-away nursing staff treating intoxicated individuals. In the sales began to lose momentum. A year of inaction & & after the original decision meant that the communi .^ six years 1986-91, 15 community members (eleven ^Soc^W^T ^-d^ femal- ^ r^e,^8..^a" / 1991pmpi.l^ the birth,°l^vEPH^r,Ll,^^,H^, rate at Yalats dropped/ fneedael5afa'iana6oer and the already ^^ ^9otJri:'a.reshicteadcii Austn-.lian Abor^inrld Studies 200.3/2 67 f *'. r \ &'- v ^'.! - V ^> T ^ '-IL \r, [^ .I Mf .f ".'"" (. .I t. r i"J ^ _h --^* ^ t.. ^ \- /* - ^^rni-tr^'.ler. T~h£ community v/as traumatised by Tne hotels all announced that they wou.ld oppose J- A .^ ''; -.1 ri"^ w- L^ sued in full -ny..' cf ^r'one I. i .w S'Li e.^ted conditions. One hotel hosted ? meetin? r :-n? a.cciden^/ ".^'hicn 1'La.ppsne so ^-t r I k ^, f ti-iat remior T^^3d. L-i. in the ^aniiy of the roadhouse. Two weeks later the -/ith the surrourLding farmers tl c"ouncil wrote to the Licensing Commissioner/ asking mistaken vlew- t^at t^e ^ake-av^ay restncnons were fum to visit and discuss the uncontrolled access to going to affect local people not associated with Yalata. akohol. The commissioner wrote to all licensed H ^as Wed that Yalata would be able to present its \. louses/ alerung them that he was considering an posirion to the Judge of the Licensing: Court, which J3^!-i^t^nsTleTe;n^ei"^iIS <^'^J°-rh^escmmtil^u^'1 i^TesS^t^f i^ev^Ss tT^la^L ^st^dali5^a1]']^ They were ready for him. the Liquor Commissioner sought to negoriare a y'!\ .r\^ report had been commissioned through the 'compromise' a^iesment v.rith f-he hotels that the}/ * Jocal Yalata Maralmga Health Se.i-vice to brief ibe would sell orJy low-alcohol beer as both on- and off- commissioTier on the mortality and morbidity sales for Yalata customers. Questioned by a local associated with alcohol use (Brady 1991). When he Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission arrived on 10 July/ he was taken first to the Women's (ATSZC) officer/ some Yaiata residents apparently Centre/ where 20 women/ all of the mature acquiesced to the low-akohoJ beer idea; this kind of '1 /,3 spokeswomen for the community and several who beer had never previously been discussed in the were council members/ were gathered. They told him community. The women's group was unhappy with they were worried about their people/ their children this proposed corrLpromise. In the evenly the propocal and their community. They told him that they had no was declined by Judge Kelly of the Licensing Court old people le£t because of alcohol. They stated on 13 September 1991, and the matter was further unequivocally that they wanted a prohibition on take- delayed, av.Tay sales to Yalata. people/ and that they wanted a Finally a hearing date was announced: 19 ban on driTtking at the bar in Nundroo as well. This December 1991, ei^ht months after the Easter deaths/ meeting was followed by an enlarged council meeang and even then the matter was not simple. With the at w'bich i'he women's s-Lig-gestions were endorsed by support ofATSIC/ a large contingent ofYalata Council the others present. and community niembers drove the 1000 kilometres The meetings with the Liquor Commissioner to Adelaide to attend and support their case at the marked the beginning of yet anorher round of court hearing. The licensees had I-ured lawyers to complex interchanges and 'negotiations/ which/ it object to the proposed restrictions. Legal counsel for must be said/ served to confuse and dismsiy the commuriity had been briefed to put the Yalats community members. At the height of the case/ but South Australia is the only jurisdiction in negotiations about whether and how there \Tere to be Australia where parties do not have locus siandi (the changed licence conditions/ licensees began to right of standing before the court); f-he community circulate petitions objecting to these plans/ inviting was supposed to rely on the Liquor Licensing ) Yalata drinkers to sign up. In response to this, a Yalata Commissioner to speak on its behalf (Bourbon et al woman dictated a letter that was circulated at the 1999:29). time/ which read as rollows' There was some discussion before the Judge Will the governmsnt take notice of those people si^nmg agreed to inform, himself of the issues by agreeing to nalmesTSTJreTe^^n^ol^ ^^^opTe5^^ ^Tl^lTJe^J^,^rt^cLn^Lta]k^^ TJ?7a? ^^^^^^^^^.n; ^:-fom^-Kb-^K^ ^^^ ^^^'d Ll'^.l?lol^£^v^Fio s si^ui^^ '^O'W^L ^vit,ii sllth^ ^f^^^^i ^^^^^^^^^0^^^ ^^^'^^^^^^.r-^^^^ft^^1 ^^^^^'^^-^^^^^^^ grogs [the licensee]/he/s only trying to get the people:to a^co^^^^ton^e residents of/ or ^^T-^L^l1^1'^1^ travellers to or from/ ^r^urr^1^ Yalata ^you want to come and drink here/ you sign your name community and the Maralinga Lands by the licensees here' and }ie/ll argue for the p&ople who sign it of Nundroo/ Nullarbor and Penon,^. Li^ht0 beer0 was It's for a Jot of tLe kids/ {.he ^in'i rjuta. How m£iny times excepted from this ruling. Commenting on the you see rjilji [children] wandering around here no mat continued availability of low-alcohol beer, a council [food]/ no camp no mcker. In many areas peoples have member observed that because or this/ the /footsreps/ strong laws. Wh-y can't Yalata s^ud up with those would s^fH lead to the road^ouse:'Low slcohol beer is srrong .lan's? Which bloke 7,Tould stand up for Yalata no good. Jt/s still drink, and ifs sull Nuiiriroo. Tliey and say we need kspi wiya [no grog], follow their step/ L 6S Ar-strzlic-.n Abonynal > Studies 200.3/2 s «itM*u lt--. ^^1 ~" - --^- ^i- ^-^- ^: * 'V-^-ic. '.' .r-s 7i'c Id ?;i.K; -F : / pr ~.V'i^.?'-ui-i-?^.y, B/rne sna rT=n.-?er3on Conclusion unity good has alv-ays been a particularly difficult task in South Australia/ a wine-producing state. A The community had finally succeeded in imposing National Health Policy on Alcohol had been watered restrictions on the supply of alcohol in the region/ down in 1989, largely as a result of inte.nse pressure after 16 years of struggle. Reflecting on the court from the wine industry and some South Australian hearing, MabelQueama/ a senior Oak Valley woman, mimsters concerned about the economic impact on observed in 2001: their state (Hawks 1989; Pu-ne 1989). Andre.vSecker/ Yes, we have been there [to the court case] for the' the liquor licensing commissioner involved m Yalata's drinkmg."To\^P^he"alcLohoHc;Nundroo7JPeuncn^ nesot^ns,irL l!86Lh!er.published.an article NuII^r.Toom^f^ng/'murde^Toomanyme'n ^prclsin§^eS^Lmds?.abou_Lthe. capaclty. of and women ministers and their advisers to formulate far-reachin0- money on drmldndir^gnsThT^dl^g"dimTea^lIe.th^ E^r^^^!^1!^?!!0!^^0^^'9^1"1^ 1991]; we have been at Oak Valley for a long time, South Australia/ harm mimmisation has only been an explicit objective of the Liquor Licensing Act since These restrictions remain m place today. Has the 1997, although it v/as 'policy' before this. Making struggle been worthwhile for the communify? A . harm minimisation an objective of a liquor Act is & recent- ten year follow-up study supported by Yalata important as it provides licensing authorities with the Council and Yalata Health Service2 provides evidence leverage to justify a range of licensing decisions of improvements in the quality of life for the residents (Bourbon et al 1999:13; Stockwell 1994). of Yalat-a/ and a statistically significant decline in Cheap port/ or fortified wine/ is made from the deaths from all causes/ particularly in the 15 to 29 year overproduction of grapes of .{ow quality/ fortified with age group. This was mainly due to a dramatic decline brandy. Sales of fortified v-mes in Australia have in alcohol-r&Iated motor vehicle accident deaths slumped dramatically over the last 30 years, with a (Byrne et al 2001) There is also now good evidence rise in sales of good quality table wines/ W there is ^°^tlay-n^'rIiSrb^S^ualel'^sSSo^Sse(^£teiI^ti'^! ^?^h'Lm^£^OIrtS:^l£^I^s2 ^^^°^S^S Se$^.MOt 1996; d/Abbs snd Togni 2000^ Gray 2000; Gray et al per bottle/ and without price conirols/ o^ets are free 2000) Many long-term health and social problems to set their own prices and profit margins.3 Because of remain m the community. Yvome Edwards/ a senior this/ the outlets" on the far western" coast of South Yalata woman and one of those who drove to the Australia keep their prices low, Ceduna Community court hearing in Adelaide in December _1991/ said ten Hotel. 200 km away'from Yalata/ opened a massive years later that 'Everyone goes past Nundroo now, new drive-in liquor store in 1999, replacing the former they go straight forCeduna for the grog. Nullarbor/ modest outlet; most nights it opens until 10 or 11 pm. people don't go there/ people go straight pasu A five-litre cask of Bern sweet wine can be bought for 0 Penong/ Colin Murka/ a respected Yalata man and $11.99; a 750-ml bottle of McWilIiams port sells at supporter of the rest-rictions/ said in 2001 that /the $6,80. legislation helped half-half-better than before/ other The history of Yalata community attempts to people still drinking in their homes/. bring about formal restrictions is a history of The SouA Australian liquor licensing authority hesitation and equivocation on both sides. Liquor and the slate legislation governing its actions/ as with commissioners over the years (perhaps unavoidably) other states/ are required to fulfil two often mutually devoted as much rime toseekmg the Simons' of the Idp>xclusive objectives: to encourage the responsible licensees as they did to hearing the increasingly . promotion, sales and consun.puonof alcohol and. to desperate demands for action from the successively protect the economic int&rests of the producers and elected Yalata community councils/ and acting on the marketers of akcmoL The role of the state in hard evidence of alcohol-related morbidity and regulating the supply or alcohol is fche subject of a mortality provided to th£in. Protracted and unnecess- much wider debate/ both internationally (Edwards et arily detailed consultative procedures by both police al 1995; Health and Welfare Canada 1992; Room et al and legal aid served to delay progress on a number of 2002), and within Australia (Lewis 199.2; Saggers and occasions/ allowing several windows of opportunity Gray 1998; Stockwell 1994). Balancing t:he competing to pass and contributing to the weakening resolve of interests of economic development and uhe comm- various community councils. f fl If ^ 4u/ r?7; . -'',1- The acu'on taken by tJ-iis coinmunzty h-- d parallels REFERENCES 1 d national movement b- v,-ith I- contemporary T^ 1 ^ t -.-^.-..1 1 T T f ct- T 1C--A r- ^ ^ec. . st--, V-. -^ -^Dr ..!gl"?S, .J. dj.. 3 ^iS5,-m.u'j',LiGrL» m ^vi, j ,-s^T/ Ac :n^ir>^i commimities sm'/in^ co0 take sc'ne centre-! -^, -/ over alcohol availability and thus reduce alcohol- [ed.), Aborigmes N010, Angus & Roberi-son, Sydne}?/ 32-^:7. related harm. Not only did Aboriginal groups in Be-nnett, S. 1985 The 1967 P-.efeTendu.m,Av.s-iralim Aboriginal Studies several small towns and settleinents make moves to 1955/2:2^-31. restrict supplies-and monitor the outcomes-there Bucket, ]. 1997 Fire m the Ov.tl.-ck: The: mold story of the Aboriginal v,7ere public demonstrations and marches against re-^l move^eni that began on Eicko Island m 1979, A]batross 3ooks, grog in the early 1990s, many of them led by Sutherland. Aboriginal women (Brady 1998:149-70). Bourbon, D.,S.Saggers and D. Gray 1999 Indigenous Ar.slrciV.Gns .i;:d Throughout the period we ha"e discussed/ Li{Jwr L^ci'nsi^, L[sl![atiori' I^Ta1;'ona] centre Ior Resear(=h info che several different Yalata^comm unity councils presided ^T^ of Drug Abuse, Perth. over these matters/ each forced to weigh up the Brady/M. 19S1 FieMnote?, 1979-1982,1990-2000. competing pressures and persuasions of the drinkers 1987 Leaving the spinifex; the import of rations/ missions and among their number and m the com^uni^ ag.nst ,he .o^c .es. " the ,ou.he,n P^n^^.a, R^^'s^ the palpable destruction wrought by alcohol abuse. Australian Museum 20:35-5. They faced the accidents of history that led to the 1991 M'orbidi^y and morf'aJity associated with alcohol creation of the community In the &st place/ and its consumption at Yalata, South Australia. a briefing paper 7or"SA \^ eventual location close to a national highway/ 30 Liquor Licensing Commissioner, unpublished/ July, AIATSIS, minutes drive to a liquor outlet. They confronted the Canberra. hostility of ths roadside hotel managers from whom I99S The Groo Book: Stwi^tliemizg Indigenous compmmih/ c-tiQn they had to buy petrol and foodstuffs/ and who did o.'! alcohol, Department of Health and Fainily Services/ Canberra. ^ their best to sabotage the community's efforts by g^y/ M. and K. Palmer 1984 Alcohol in the Cutback: Tv 3 siudi es oj- instigating petitions/ promoting misinformation and drinking. North Australia .Research Unit/ Ausi-ralian National mounting legal challenges. (In fact/ no outlet has Uni-ersity Darwin. subsequently gone out of business.) They faced me 19SS Dependency and asrertiveness: three waves of dilemmas of a socially sanctioned and longstanding Christianity among Pitianij^araAbori^ines ar Ooldea and Yalsta. tolerance or drink and drinkers within me Aboriginal I" T. Swain0 and D-B. Rose (eds), Abs rigmal Ai.:iralians and Christian population, ^. widely endo^d -ha^had ^^ ^'"" -" ^ ^ ^ ^ ^^. the right to drink. It took a major tragedy in 1991 to both trigger and legitimise the council's subsequent ^risioe',G'.19,91A^^ia,Ih!,?^y^^he^no^hG,m^en,tral^iorlof I :~l /"» 4-t /".i'T"i is/Teading finally to legal restrictions on the s,°ltl^a1^950 to 1979' MA Thesis/ Austrahan National most damaging type of alcohol-take-aw ay sales of univel'sity' Canberra. full-strength beers/ wines and spirits. Byme/ ]., M. Brady and G. Henderson 2001 Monitoring the kmg- term social and environmental effects of changesb in alcohol availability in an Aboriginal community; a ten-year follow up ACKNOWLEDGMENTS study, unpublished report, AIATSIS, Canberra. d'Abbs, P. 1990 Restricted areas and Aboriginal drinking. In ]. s=es=ss=sss=4-6 April 1-i.embers. We thank them all, together0 with Richard Preece (AT3IC), Richard Bradshaw, Chris Charles/ Andrew CoV-eti, Sue d'Abbs/ P., S. Togni and I. Crundall 1996 The Tennmit Creek Li^.ior Jor.ss 2nd Darcy O'Shea (legal ad- isers) v/no participated in the Licensing Tnal,_Azigust 1995-F.bn^-y 1996: An valuation, Menzies process over many years School of Health Research and NT Living with Alcohol Program/ Darwin, NOTES d'Abbs/ P. and S. Togni 2000 Liquor licensing and community action in regional0 and remote Australia: a review of recent initiatives, A-nsirc'.lip.n and Ncit/ Zealand journal of Public Hs;lth ^~v 1. A sobpring-up centre opened in Ceduna in 1990. "fii-'t.Z^^3-3J. 2. Formerly known as the Yalata 1 .I?.ralinga PTsakh Service. Edwards, G., P. Anderson, T,F. Babor and 14 other autnors 1995 rl ^. Information from McWiUiams Wines. Alcohol Policy and th." public Good, WHO, Europe and Oxford University Press/ Oxford. 70 Austmlmn Aboriynci10 -Studies 2003/2 s ^Jv r ^ J / "f '.? .'.--. r i;" /b? '/. ^fa?' - ^;"/i;, Syme ?-;d H°n^src;--'n ^^ ]. WS Life on the Edge: The fsr wesi coKsi of South Ai:s(rrb'e, Maggie Grsdy is. 2 soda] snfhropologist witK research ] y^tria Council of Murat 3a;;/ Ceduna. interests m alcohol and other dru^~ use.D She has undercaken GsraT./ 3. Colley, S. Brockweil and S. Cane 1988 The Abongmsl research in several regions of Australia on the impact of M£:J:~rw-is ^ (-?0;QL-'1' rePori to Aboriginal Heritage Branch, SA; glcohol, supp.ly re5tricrions/ natural recovery and the ^'UTECH Pcy Ltd, Csnberra. geography and meaning of petrol sniffing. As a visiting Gray, D. 2000 Indigenous Australi?ns and iiquor iicensing fellow at AIATSIS in the 1990s/ she published two r'_ ,;ic^s (EditorialV A^icrion 95:1469-72. community action books on drinking,, Giving Away Hi.e Gro^ Grsy, D-' S- 5aSSers'J^1- Arkmson, D, Sputore 3nd S. Eourbon 2000 (1995) and The Grog Book (Z99S). She is now an Australia "I nResearch Council fellow at ANU. ~^atins ^e groS: an svaiuai'ion of Ae Tennant Creek iiquor j.censing restrictions, Australian and New Zealand JonrnQl of Public ^galth 24:39-44. Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, The Australian Np.tiond University, Cariberro. HsmpeL N-A. ]977 yfl^r-T Z-^^rc?; Mission 3352-JS77/ Yala^a White, I.M. 1973 The Nundroo in'cident fhs trial of an Abori^nal 3 / lOotbstl team/ Abon^inss& in tke 70s: Semmsrs 1972-3, Centre for Keseardi into Aborigmal3 Afrsirs, ^onash Umversity 1'lelbourne,.J ~S.~- ^£ o/ ^6, r. ^.i.istmhan Aboriginali? Sn'dies 2003/2 71 t Jt ***»Ut