The NSW Council of Churches has backed a call by the President of the Police Association of NSW, Mr Scott Weber, for tighter restrictions on the sale and consumption of alcohol.
Council President Rev Richard Quadrio said the churches strongly supported the Police Association’s Last Drinks campaign which sought to tackle the problem of alcohol-related violence by convincing NSW political leaders to bring in measures such as earlier closing times, lock-outs and restrictions on the sale of high-alcohol content drinks late at night.
Rev Quadrio said police officers, doctors, nurses and ambulance officers were sick of dealing with the effects of alcohol-related violence. Â Brutal attacks on emergency services workers by drunken thugs are not what we expect or condone in our suburbs or in our city centres.
The NSW Council of Churches has urged both major political parties to announce new policies to address alcohol-fuelled violence.
Broadcast on 2CH Sydney, 30 Jan 2011.
iDigress 
The NSW council of churches should peruse the site of The Pedestrian 08 Campaign for a comprehensive approach to moderating alcohol consumption via alcohol education. The education is energised by declaring a Blood Alcohol Content limit of point 08 for pedestrians, thereby outlawing the disastrous effects of binge drinking on the public as a whole, but especially affecting police, doctors, nurses and ambulance officers.
Technology has caught up with this problem. We know that accidents, injuries, deaths and violence are in some way related to the individuals BAC level. We now have readily available, accurate and reliable BAC testing machines, iPhone BAC estimators and educational software. What we lack are political leaders prepared to stare down Big Liquor, who, the World Health Organisation figures suggest, participated in the killing of 2 point 5 million victims last year.
These are death figures akin to genocide readers, they are real, and this genocide occurs with the active support of our political leaders…
A pedestrian 08 limit will work at 3 in the morning as well as it would at 3 in the afternoon.
Goon baggers will be picked up in large numbers prior to impacting ‘entertainment’ districts.
Underage drinkers will be caught, fined and brought to the attention of authorities. As your readers would know, giving a child alcohol is CHILD ABUSE.
Every other effective measure still needs to be done. Eg, Ban on advertising; ban on sport promotion; returning the min. age to 21; restricting opening hours; restricting and buying back the flood of liquor licenses, etc.
But few measures could challenge the effectiveness of pedestrian 08.
Get on board and support this cause.
Mike Cockburn
The Pedestrian 08 Campaign