Police officers are called a lot of names, but when the NSW Premier Kristina Keneally this week called us ‘wowsers’ for launching a campaign to close pubs at 3am, we were left scratching our heads.
Maybe something got lost in the translation to ocker for our Premier, but according to my research
the term originally referred to annoying and disruptive people – the sort of people an alcohol lock-out would attempt to manage.
In more recent times, the term evolved to refer to the ‘pious’, a fair description of the hotel lobby who seems to run NSW, who (with a straight face) attempted to argue that thousands of jobs would be lost
if people were told to go home before the sun comes up.
Whatever the origins of the term, the Permier’s comments trivialised a serious issue, and were offensive to thousands of emergency service and health workers.
Alcohol-related violence is serious problem in NSW – and most other states as well. The facts speak for themselves.
· Alcohol-related violent incidents are growing by over 6 per cent a year;
· The number of paramedics assaulted a year has increased by over 60 per cent since 2006-07;
· There were 2,855 assaults against police in NSW;
· And it’s estimated that 70 per cent of these assaults against police were alcohol-related.
The Police Association of NSW has invited Ms Keneally to spend some time with a patrol on the streets. She has said that she will do it – but not a for a few months
When she does come out, she might be surprised to find out what goes on while she is asleep.
She’ll be in for a shock when she sees what goes on along Darlinghust Road and Oxford Street, or the chaos in the Emergency Department of the Royal Prince Alfred on Saturday nights.
In the meantime, doctors, nurses, ambos and cops will continue to be assaulted and harassed.
The Premier also rejected calls for tougher liquor licensing regulations on the grounds that she does support a ‘one-size-fits-all solution’.
At this point she graduated from the trivial to the glib.
The State Government’s current approach, with its hotelier-friendly focuses on ‘personal responsibility’.
This policy is the preferred position of the Australian Hotels Association. The Opposition Leader, Barry O’Farrell, is also parroting the AHA line.
This approach is itself a ‘one-size-fits-all’ policy. It assumes everyone drinks responsibly and no-one goes out simply to get drunk.
But in the real world, things aren’t so rosy. Some people handle alcohol differently to others.
In the real world, where I work as a Police Officer, I deal with people who aren’t always thinking about the long-term consequences of their actions.
Usually the people who want to start a fight with me are under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.
Some call it Dutch courage – but there’s nothing courageous about it.
Often they don’t even remember what they have done the next morning.
Asking these people to take greater ‘personal responsibility’ is like asking an oil tanker to swerve around a seagull. It’s just a waste of time.
Imposing tighter restrictions on pubs and clubs, however, acknowledges that some people do not drink responsibly, and some people don’t care about ‘personal responsibility’.
It recognises that the current ‘one-size-fits-all’ policy isn’t working, and we need to take a tougher stance on violent thugs.
Moderate restrictions like 3am closing times, 1am lock-outs and restrictions on high-alcohol drinks like shots will not send the hotel industry to the wall, or stop people from having a night out on the town.
But such restrictions will help curb the worst excesses of the late night booze trade.
Cops, doctors, ambos and nurses are sick of being punching bags for boozed-up thugs.
We’re just trying to do our jobs, and to keep the community safe.
Quite frankly, we don’t understand why the Premier was so dismissive about our concerns.
We’re not wowsers, and we’re not whingers. We just want to go to work without being assaulted.
We also would like to live in a state where people can go out at night and feel safe, without the constant threat of being hassled by a pissed idiot.
If that makes us wowsers, then it’s a badge I’ll wear with pride.
Scott Weber is the Vice President of the Police Association of NSW and works at a Sergeant with the Marrickville LAC in Sydney’s inner-west
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