Mail orders not in grog stats

The NT police also has, per capita, three times more non-operational staff than the nation.By ERWIN CHLANDA NT Government released Peak Alcohol Concentration (PAC) statistics – how much grog we drink expressed in litres of pure alcohol – don't take into account online and other purchases from interstate or overseas. Anecdotal evidence suggests the inconvenience shoppers are being put to by a string of supply restrictions, regulating the quantity that can be bought as well the times bottlos are permitted to be open, has driven many locals to online shopping.

Yet figures such as PAC are used by the government and some NGOs to justify the restrictions, a strategy that lacks credibility if the statistics are incomplete. The most recent PAC figures are for the first three quarters of 2023 (the December quarter is not yet available). They show a 15% drop from 2022, but do not include mail orders. A key feature of the restrictions is the Banned Drinkers Register enforced by police at bottle shops. How many police? "Those are operational numbers and we’re unable to provide them," says a police spokesperson. Yet police numbers are set to become a prime issue for the August election, as it always is at election time in the NT, notwithstanding that the Territory has, per head of population, nearly three times more police officers compared with all of Australia (see Productivity Commission graph at top).