Plea to end taxi beer drops
Cartons of beer left by some taxi drivers at the perimeter fence of a drying-out facility in Broome have been smuggled inside by clients in what is understood to be a fee-for-alcohol scam.
Milliya Rumurra Aboriginal Corporation Rehabilitation Centre chief executive Andrew Amor last week pleaded for the anonymous deliveries to stop in letters he sent to town-based taxi companies.
“This is about trying to reduce harm that sometimes taxi drivers themselves are on the receiving end of, so we really want their support on this,” he said.
“If people become intoxicated at the centre, it can pose a risk to other clients, their partners and children and to our staff.
“A lot of those who have been mandated, people from prison or child protection, run the risk of some nasty consequences if they are excluded from the program.”
The Department of Transport said it would write to Broome taxi operators outlining its position on the “unethical supplying of alcohol, to ensure Broome taxi drivers are clear on community expectations of them”.
“"If DoT is presented with specific allegations and evidence that a taxi driver is behaving unethically by engaging in providing or supplying alcohol, then DoT will review whether that individual is suitable to hold a taxi driver licence,” a DoT spokesperson said.
MRACRC provides residential treatment and rehabilitation to people wishing to address their drug and alcohol use, on a referral and voluntary basis for a minimum of 12 weeks, and includes a sobering-up shelter.
The program also takes in families as well under a zero-alcohol tolerance and no mobile phone policy.
Clients caught with drink on the property are kicked out immediately.
Mr Amor said several people in exit interviews admitted using cabbies to courier their alcohol to the site perimeter for collection in exchange for money. He said they either gained access to a phone and arranged delivery and fees direct with the taxi driver, or family or friends carried out deals with cabbies on their behalf.
“I don’t think taxi drivers would do this for nothing,” Mr Amor said.
He said the frequency of the deliveries was hard to determine because the property was spread over 15 hectares.
The last time he reported an incident to police was in November but Mr Amor conceded it could be happening “a lot more”.
“In the last year, there would have been two clients mention it to us but we would have had probably up to a dozen members of the community ring us directly at the centre to warn it was happening,” he said.
“We can’t patrol the boundaries 24 hours a day seven days a week, and there is a possibility this is happening a lot more.
“We have been forced to build a 1.8m high fence around the entire site.
“The sad part is it is not to keep the people in, it’s to keep the people out.”
He said CCTV was an expensive option that had been considered to beef -up security.
“Our side boundaries are 800 metres long and one of the drop-off points is right down the back, 800 metres away,” he said.
“We have had some quotes come back at $40,000. We can’t afford that — it is not a priority for us.”
Senior Sergeant Brendon Barwick confirmed police were notified in November last year of an incident where a vehicle (purported to be a taxi) had delivered alcohol to a location near Milliya Rumurra, which was allegedly consumed by a resident of the centre.
He said the situation was being monitored by police.
“Whilst there may not actually be an offence committed, I would suggest that anyone engaging in this type of behaviour, particularly in this instance, there is a moral responsibility attached,” he said.
