Police Minister Paul Papalia and Police Commissioner Chris Dawson are at odds over alcohol policy, with the minister warning the removal of mid and full-strength alcohol from northern Western Australian towns could be seen as paternalistic.
Commissioner Dawson is pushing for blanket liquor restrictions across the Pilbara and Kimberley to help protect children and reduce the regions' notoriously high rates of drunken domestic violence.
In 2019 he applied to the independent regulator to ban Kimberley and Pilbara bottle shops from selling all alcohol except for light beer, with a decision expected within the next twelve months.
Speaking in Broome on Tuesday morning, Mr Papalia said there was no evidence blanket restrictions would reduce violence.
"The argument could be made that alcohol is the driver of those types of crimes, wherever you are," he said.
"The question has to be asked why would you apply [restrictions] only in one part of the country and why would you suggest it only be here?
Western Australia's Director for Liquor Licensing is currently assessing the controversial proposal.
Submissions are being received through to July.
Her decision will not require ministerial sign-off but could potentially be appealed.
Is a list of banned drinkers the solution?
The WA Government has said repeatedly that its two-year trial of a Banned Drinker Register (BDR) should be given a chance to work before more hardline restrictions on sales are considered.
But the effectiveness of the BDR risks being undermined by the Police Commissioner's distrust of the scheme.
In Commissioner Dawson's submission on the proposed liquor restrictions, obtained by The Australian, he criticised the BDR system, pointing out that banned drinkers could still be bought alcohol by friends and family.
His reservations come at a time when the Police Minister is urging officers to get on board with the scheme and apply to have more people added to the banned list.
There are currently 109 people banned from buying alcohol in the Kimberley and Pilbara under the scheme.
The number has been slow to increase since the trial started in 2020 with WA Police officers finding the application process onerous on top of more urgent COVID enforcement and crime call-outs.
Broader crime concerns
Alcohol abuse in the north has proven a tricky policy area for successive WA governments.
The latest debate about liquor policy comes as community frustration grows about drunken street brawls, child neglect and public intoxication in towns like Broome, Derby, and Kununurra.
Northern towns are currently subject to a patchwork of different restrictions, with the variation fuelling a lucrative black market trade in so-called sly grog.
