Thousands have signed the petition for secondary supply laws in Western Australia, an initiative spearheaded by mother of four, Samantha Menezes.
Menezes’ crusade has reached new heights with almost 6000 signatures which have now been tabled in Parliament after being formally backed by the Labour party with its own bill.
Last week minister Mick Murray proposed changes to the Liquor Control Act to restrict the provision of alcohol to juveniles without consent from a parent or legal guardian. The Liquor Control Amendment Bill 2013 proposes penalties for guilty parties of up to $4000.
This is not the first time a parent has taken on this cause. In November 2011, Victoria passed the secondary supply law and Bruce Clark was the key force behind this legislation after his son Leigh tragically passed away after consuming alcohol supplied at a private party supervised by a consenting adult.
Minister Mick Murray had this to say about the bill, according to a post on Yahoo News site:
Mr Murray said the laws would provide “parental back-up” when teens were told they could not drink and would help reduce out-of-control parties.
Secondary supply laws, which other States have, are being considered in a wider review of the Act.
“I don’t think we can afford to wait,” Mr Murray said, adding the review had been extended to September. “Before we run into the summer months, especially, when the parties start, we could have someone injured or die from alcohol poisoning.”
Source: http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/breaking/17565588/thousands-sign-alcohol-petition/
According to a report on Yahoo News Southern River Liberal MP Peter Abetz tabled the petition, consisting of 5875 signatures on behalf of Mrs Menezes and expressed his confidence that secondary supply laws would be recommended in the review especially when you consider the overwhelming support it has received from the community.
According to Mrs Menezes, most of the people who signed the petition were of the impression that the laws were already in place.
The post on Yahoo News went on to state:
Mr Waldron reiterated his support for any plan that would mean less harm to children, but said it would be irresponsible to pre-empt the review.
People can still sign the petition at change.org.
Source: http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/breaking/17565588/thousands-sign-alcohol-petition/
The Australian Drug Foundation was amongst the organisations lending their support to the bill and on their website (http://www.adf.org.au/policy-advocacy/secondary-supply) they explained why. According to them by the age of 17, some 95 per cent of students have tried alcohol. 42 per cent drink every week and only 45 per cent of these underage minors say their parents gave them their last drink.
They went on to explain why they support these secondary supply laws:
The ADF supports the NHMRC alcohol guidelines and believes secondary supply legislation, with the following features, is required in every jurisdiction:
that an adult must not supply alcohol to a minor at a private place unless the adult is a parent or legal guardian of the minor, or has specific permission of the parent or guardian; and
that any alcohol consumption by minors should be controlled by their parent, or equivalent, in order to reduce young people’s access to alcohol, and to reduce the likelihood of harm in instances where young people do drink alcohol.
Source: http://www.adf.org.au/policy-advocacy/secondary-supply