A SECULAR journalist Shannon Molloy seems to think sac-religion is desirable for a prime minister, rather than pure religion. But see: “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” (James 1:27.) Anyhow, secular journalists know how PMs downplay their religion by means of alcohol. Molloy says: “AUSTRALIA has had some pretty religious prime ministers in the recent past, from almost-a-priest Tony Abbott to churchgoing Kevin Rudd… A senior Liberal source told news.com.au that Mr Morrison would be encouraged to downplay his deeply [held] religious beliefs.”

(Shannon Molloy, “From talking in tongues to ‘divine faith’, could Scott Morrison’s religion be a liability?”, news.com.au, 28 Aug. 2018.)

Sadly, all these Prime Ministers: Kevin Rudd, Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull, Scott Morrison, and Anthony Albanese together disregard the Proverbs 31:4-5 warning against the first drink.

“It is not for kings, O Lemuel,
It is not for kings to drink wine,
Nor for princes …
Lest they drink and forget the law,
And pervert the justice of all the afflicted.”
(Proverbs 31:4-5)

Scott Morrison

Interviewer: “Scott [Morrison], what was the last time you were hungover? What was the last time you were a little bit dusty?”
Morrison: “Oh, New Year’s of a couple years ago, yeah … It was a few years ago … about 2018, I think, yeah…”
Interviewers: “Big night.” “What was the weapon, what did it to you?”
Morrison: “Tasmanian whiskey.”
Interviewers: “Aaah! The old whiskey, it will get you every time!”
Morrison: “Yeah, I don’t mind getting together with some mates and friends, and you know, kicking back, and that sort of thing… But in this job, you’ve got to sort of, you’ve got to be up and at it the next day, every day, so.”
Interviewers: “You don’t want to be sweating the whiskey out in parliament, do ya?”

(Prime Minister Scott Morrison interviewed by Jase & PJ, 19 May 2021, audio at 10:23.)

Kevin Rudd

Was not Prime Minister Kevin Rudd also downplaying his religion by means of alcohol? PM Rudd said: “I had had too much to drink. With the benefit of hindsight, I should not have gone on for a further drink. Mr Rudd admitted going onto the [strip] club was a poor choice.”
(“Rudd’s strip club visit”, Sydney Morning Herald, 19 Aug. 2007.)

No Christians should ignore Christ’s warning against alcohol!

“Make sure that you don’t become drunk, hung over, and worried about life. Then that day could suddenly catch you by surprise.” Luke 21:34 (GW) Literally translated, there is no occasion “at any time” when it is ever appropraite for any Christian to ignore the warning from Christ “lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting…” (Luke 21:34 KJV) The word translated surfeiting means a headache from drinking. No Christians should ignore Christ, whether or not they are prime ministers!

“For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles—when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you. They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.“

(1 Peter 4:3-5 NKJV)

The Mayor of Redland City Council, Karen Magdalina Williams, pleaded guilty on 1 Aug. 2022 to a drink-driving incident which occurred on 23 June 2022. The drink-driver damaged a council owned vehicle, crashed it into a fence and a tree. Fortunately nobody died this time! The mayor had a blood alcohol content of 0.177 (over 3 times the 0.05 general alcohol limit currently in Queensland) following the council-approved purchase of “limited amounts” of alcohol. After pleading guilty at Cleveland Magistrates Court, Williams now returns to her job as mayor, plus 80 hours of community service, and six months without driving. But there is no imprisonment (up to 9 months in Queensland), no $4,025 fine, and not even a conviction recorded for the mayor. (Before the court date, she stood down temporarily and agreed to repay the council for the damaged vehicle if convicted.)

A petition (signed by 6,697 people) called for Queensland’s Minister for Local Government to dismiss the mayor. Another petition calling for a zero-alcohol workplace for elected representatives was referred to the Redland City Council CEO Andrew Chesterman.

Then on 28 June, the Council CEO said about the existing Entertainment and Hospitality Policy: “Limited amounts of alcohol are purchased, on rare occasions, and only to mark significant events, in accordance with the Entertainment and Hospitality Policy. On Sunday I asked for this Policy to be reviewed.”

Irony

Ironically, the Mayor’s drink-driving incident occurred on the same day as a Zoom meeting where she chatted with the families of people killed by drink-drivers.

Judy Lindsay was among the families of victims who chatted with Mayor Williams that day. Her 20-year-old daughter Hayley had been killed by another drink-driver. Senior Sergeant David Candale has said of the drink-driver that killed Hayley: “He told the group that he was right to drive. He had severely underestimated how much alcohol he had in his body.” Now Judy became the principal petitioner for the mayor’s dismissal, sponsored by Don Brown MP.

Zero-alcohol workplace for elected representatives

Williams admitted that she made “a serious error of judgement” on 23 June 2022. Correct. But without a zero-alcohol workplace for elected representatives, the errors of judgement were waiting to happen! Even low levels of alcohol affect judgement.

Remember: do not have that first drink!

Some countries have a much lower blood alcohol limit than Australia. Queensland’s current general alcohol “limit” of 0.05 increases the dangerous complacency about drink-driving.

“Even below this [0.05], your judgement, reaction times and driving skill are not as good as you think they are. For example, you are twice as likely to have a crash when driving with a BAC of 0.05%, versus no alcohol. If you’re a learner driver, provisional or probationary driver (regardless of age), truck and bus driver, driving instructor or convicted of driving under the influence (DUI), you must have a 0.00% BAC in most Australian states or territories.”

(“Blood alcohol levels“, Australian Drug Foundation, 14 Feb. 2017.)

However, I am concerned when a politician referring to Mayor Williams, said “not to have that extra drink.” This part of what Peter Dutton MP said is certainly not strong enough! “My message, particularly as a former police officer, is to not have that extra drink. Don’t drink and drive. I mean, there’s no excuse for it, and the consequences can be deadly.”

(Lillian Rangiah and Julius Dennis, “Peter Dutton and Meaghan Scanlon weigh in on calls for Redlands Mayor Karen Williams to resign” 26 Jun. 2022.)

But it is good that he said, “Don’t drink and drive”! Remember: do not have that first drink!

“… 109 children were killed by parents in Queensland between 2004 and 2020.”
“Almost half of Queensland’s filicide cases (2004–2020) occurred in families where agency records indicated prior domestic and family violence.
Alcohol and substance use was present in 93% of these cases.”
(“Taking lives: A Queensland study on parents who kill their children,” Queensland Family & Child Commission, 2022, p. 8-9)

Sadly the governments of Queensland and Australia offer tax dollars to the criminal alcohol industry: thousands and millions of your tax dollars are wasted.

Surely there are more creative ways to promote tourism without the poor taxpayers forced to underwrite the fortunes of the destructive alcohol industry.

“Funding will support plans to get Central Western Queensland (CWQ) Brewing up and running so locals and visitors can enjoy beers named after some of the region’s great towns.”

“The government will provide $90,000 to further develop CWQ Brewing’s beer brand designs and an investment plan to establish a regionally-owned manufacturing company.”

(Hon. Dr. Steven Miles, “Funding brews up a thirst for Outback opportunities”, Queensland Cabinet and Ministerial Directory, 26 May 2022.)

“The Queensland Palaszczuk Government is investing $1.1 million over five years to deliver Australia’s first BrewLab, where Aussie craft brewers can test their products.”

(Doris Prodanovic, “Cheers to new Queensland craft beer lab”, Food & Drink Business, 21 Nov. 2019.)

“Prime Minister Scott Morrison has pledged $20 million to assist breweries, wineries and distilleries if the Coalition government is re-elected, in a bid to boost domestic tourism.”

(“PM pledges $20m for breweries and wineries in bid to boost domestic tourism”, Sky News, 7 May 2022.)

Stephen Ferguson (chief executive of the Australian Hotels Association) met with Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, trying to get him to reduce the beer tax by half in the 2022 federal budget.

The alcohol industry must quit pretending it somehow helps Australia’s economy. It costs Australians much more.

“…the societal costs of alcohol (eg in this case direct costs) outweigh the revenue generated from alcohol taxation by a ratio of 2:1. That is, the direct societal costs of alcohol, estimated to be approximately $14.352b (2010 dollars), are more than double that received by the Commonwealth ($7.075b) in total tax revenue in 2010. This estimate includes costs to the criminal justice system, costs to the health system, costs resulting from lost productivity and costs included with respect to alcohol-related road accidents. As stated above, this estimate does not include the indirect costs such as pain and suffering, which could conceivably more than double this estimate…”

(Manning M., Smith C. & Mazerolle P., “The societal costs of alcohol misuse in Australia”, Trends & issues in crime and criminal justice no. 454. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology, 2 Apr. 2013)

Legal crime is crime nonetheless. The taxpayers of Australia have every right to demand governments will never again fund the destructive alcohol industry which causes the unjustified pain and suffering of many Australians.