Minimum price to be set for booze in NT

The Northern Territory government has released its response to a wide-ranging review of alcohol policy and legislation.

A minimum price will be set for cheap grog in the Northern Territory under sweeping reforms to alcohol policy and legislation.

The NT government on Tuesday released its formal response to the recent Riley Review into the alcohol abuse crisis in the territory.

Attorney-General Natasha Fyles said there was too much alcohol-fuelled violence and crime and the issue had to be addressed.

"Territorians want and deserve safe communities and today we are releasing the most comprehensive framework in the Territory's history to tackle the number one social issue," she said.

"We promised Territorians we would take an evidence-based approach to tackling alcohol-related harm and the government's response to the Riley Review provides a roadmap to address that."

The government has committed to 219 of the review's 220 recommendations.

Ms Fyles said 186 recommendations would be implemented in full and the government had given in-principle support for 33 more.

Only a proposed ban on the sale of takeaway alcohol on Sundays has been rejected.

In his review, former NT Supreme Court chief justice Trevor Riley called for a $1.50 minimum price for a standard alcoholic drink to ease the problem of heavily discounted wine which he said was sometimes cheaper than water.

Ms Fyles told Mix 104.9 in Darwin that the government would implement a $1.30 minimum.

She said that would put the minimum price for a bottle of wine at around $9.

In his other recommendations, Mr Riley called for the phase-out of small grocery stores selling alcohol.

He found the territory had the highest per-capita rate of alcohol consumption in Australia, one of the highest in the world, and the highest rate of hospitalisations due to alcohol misuse.

The Territory also has the nation's highest rates of alcohol-related crime, violence and death, which costs taxpayers about $640 million a year.


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Source: AAP


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