THE Northern Territory government has shelved its contentious plan to build a 20-bed alcohol treatment facility in Katherine due to the overwhelming success of the town’s temporary beat location trial.
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In November, the government withdrew its exceptional development permit application to construct the $6.1m facility on its preferred site - a 6600 square metre block in the heart of the Chardon Street industrial area - after a public backlash, announcing at the time it would identify another location in Katherine.
Health Minister John Elferink told the Katherine Times on April 8 that, since the announcement, he had decided he was “not proceeding with it at the moment”, because the success of the trial had effectively rendered the project unviable.
Only 1.3 people per month in the region are now qualifying to undergo mandatory alcohol rehabilitation since the trial started in December.
“To spend $[6.1m] on about 15 or 16 people a year would be a big cost on the taxpayer,” Mr Elferink said.
“Anyone who qualifies in the meantime will be transported to Darwin and put in mandatory alcohol treatment in Darwin.”
He added that several other cabinet members had witnessed the effectiveness of the trial.
“I can tell you, [while] it’s not been before cabinet, a number of ministers, and I include myself in that, have seen the difference,” Mr Elferink said.
“I know a lot of residents in Katherine have noticed it, and that it’s a much more peaceful place.”
The shelving of the plan has increased the pressure on the government to make the TBLs a permanent tool in Katherine’s battle against alcohol abuse when the trial finishes in June.
While the 2015-16 Territory budget is yet to be released, Member for Katherine Willem Westra van Holthe was adamant a permanent police presence outside the town’s bottle shops would be funded.
“I think there’s a commitment by the government to continue with the TBLs and it’ll be funded, whether there’s additional money made available through the budget process, or whether police will have to find it from within existing resources,” he said.
“That is certainly my understanding, that they will be continuing past the six-month trial ending in June.
Katherine Town Council mayor Fay Miller has been one of the most vocal advocates of the push to extend the trial and said she believed the government’s decision to abandon the alcohol treatment facility spoke volumes about the success of the TBLs.
“I think the very fact the minister has made that announcement means that he’s already looked at the financial implications of what’s happened since the TBLs have been introduced, and obviously there isn’t a need for it at this stage,” she said.
“I have to say, how reassuring is that?”
Police, Fire and Emergency Services Minister Peter Chandler admitted the positive impact of the trial was a “clearly visible”, adding that there was “strong evidence that the approach is working”.