Letters
When partying affects public health Letters in last week’s Echo used the phrase ‘alcoholfuelled violence’, perpetuating the idea of Byron Bay being a boozy hell-hole that people are avoiding in their droves. The vast majority of locals and visitors to the town experience Byron in a very different light – as ‘partying’ Scout Fisher attested in the same pages. Thousands of residents and tourists come out at night for a good time and enjoy themselves in one of our dozens of restaurants, or in a bar or nightclub of their choice, and return home happily and peacefully when they’ve had enough. The Byron Bay Liquor Accord supports the majority’s right to a service they would enjoy in any other sophisticated corner of the world, and not have doors closed in their faces and drinks refused at 12am as if they were undisciplined teenagers. Chris Hanley (Letters, August 13) linked the regrettable events of New Years Eve to a lack of ‘concrete measures’ restricting the sale of alcohol in Byron Bay, when every authoritative voice, including the police, recognised that the problems were caused by outsiders bringing mega-supplies of grog into the town centre
Q
Poor usage
Most pedants about the purity of the English language are probably vexed by the influx of Americanisms and by jargon related to e-gadgets (to give but one example). I, however, am most infuriated by less excusable sillinesses. The expression ‘this begs the question’ correctly refers to a situation where a writer or speaker makes an unex-
and drinking it in their cars and in the streets. As a community-minded organisation, the Liquor Accord has indeed taken a number of ‘concrete measures’ to ensure a responsible, fair and mature approach to the sale and consumption of alcohol in licensed premises in Byron. These measures were voluntarily put in place by the Accord and are part of the group’s terms of membership and are legally enforceable. Our members are committed to improving the safety and quality of their premises and the public’s enjoyment of Byron. We, too, are a part of the town. But we do not believe this has to come about by penalising the majority of drinkers, young and old, who behave in a responsible manner. Hannah Spalding Chairperson, Byron Bay Liquor Accord Q The
and that Byron Bay CBD after midnight is a very drunk and a bloody unsafe place to be, particularly on Friday and Saturday nights. Nobody from Last Drinks seems to be suggesting the town not remain a vibrant attractive place to come late at night. On the contrary, what the community is demanding, as it has demanded many times, is a safe and secure CBD in the late evening and early morning. Byron Bay has many excellent, well-run venues, and like many residents in town, I give them my business regularly. I urge the venue owners to get behind the community on this issue and heed the warnings from the frontline workers who see the carnage that occurs while the rest of us are tucked up in bed. The police deserve and need a strong show of support. Dr David Moss Byron Bay
scale and level of latenight intoxication in the Byron Bay CBD is extraordinary. If anyone still doubts this I suggest you sit on Jonson Street this Saturday night at around 2am and simply observe it. You will be shocked. Frontline police have been repeatedly warning the community that the situation is out of control
Q Subhi Awad and Scout Fisher (Letters, August 13) do not seem to understand that excessive alcohol consumption and the associated violence, injury and illness is an international public health issue with wide ramifications for individuals and the broader
amined assumption in his delivery and treats it as though the truth of it is a given. In other words there remains in the text a question which ‘goes begging’, as it were. Tony Robinson, the presenter of Time Team, repeatedly uses a number of facts then says ‘This begs the question’, when he really means ‘This inevitably leads to the question’.
Recently TV presenter Kerry O’Brien, who lives locally, used the expression in Tony Robinson’s sense, and the other night an ABC comedy did too. This must stop! Worse still is the use of the word ‘stomach’ when the writer really means ‘belly’ or ‘midriff ’. Even the most erudite writers fall into this one; to me the narrative flow of images and feelings
Letters to the Editor Send to Letters Editor Michael McDonald, fax: 6684 1719 email: editor@echo.net.au Deadline: Noon, Friday. Letters longer than 200 words may be cut. Letters already published in other papers will not be considered. Please include your full name, address and phone number for verification purposes.
society. To expect government services and staff, be it police, ambulance, hospital or community NGOs, to expend valuable and scarce staffing and funding resources on the outcomes of alcohol misuse is misguided at best. These resources would be better spent on alcohol education and preventive strategies. Emergency department nurses frequently bear the brunt of abuse and violence related to the disinhibited behaviours associated with alcohol misuse. These nurses are concerned for their own safety and that of patients and other staff and worried about the challenges related to the provision of safe, effective care for this patient cohort. ‘Enjoying your youth’ and ‘harmless self-saturation’ can only be that when the individuals concerned take full responsibility for their own behaviours, recognising the risks, and do not expect society to spend time and resources on the aftermath of these antisocial behaviours. Elizabeth McCall NSWNMA Branch Secretary/delegate, Byron District Hospital Denise Clifford NSWNMA Branch President, Byron District Hospital is somewhat compromised when suddenly I envisage this slimy smelly bag full of vomit – which is presumably not what the author intended. Currently I’m reading a Fay Weldon novel where there is a trainee belly dancer who is spoken to by a character who expresses doubt about continued on page 16
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The Byron Shire Echo August 20, 2013 13