Parents put on notice ahead of Skyfire

By NICK FAIRBAIRN
Parents will be targetted in media campaign on underage drinking ahead of this year’s Skyfire event in Canberra.

Senior Constable Helena Cox said the campaign will aim to inform parents “that if they are sending their children to Skyfire, that they know who they are sending them with”.

Around 140,000 people are expected to attend Skyfire on March 20.Last year 40 youths were detained.

Constable Cox said, “The juvenile drinking issue at Skyfire is one of our major issues.”

Former Police Minister Simon Corbell threatened to ban alcohol from the event last year.

More than a quarter of youths aged 14-19 put themselves at risk of alcohol-related harm once a month. The national policy manager for the Australian Drug Foundation. Geoff Munro. believes Australians have “forgotten how to have a good time without the presence of alcohol”, and welcomes a ban on drinking for the event.

Constable Cox remains upbeat about the prospects of the show.

“Last year was an improvement on the year before. . . ,” she said. “That gives us hope that we will see an improvement again”.

Liquor inspectors and extra police patrols will ensure that areas around Lake Burley Griffin remain “friendly and safe”.

“People are becoming aware that that sort of behaviour won’t be tolerated,” Constable Cox said.

“We’re very lucky in Canberra to have these sort of events take place in our little community.”

More than 100 youths were detained at the last two shows.

For Further info:

http://www.fm1047.com.au/pages/page91.asp http://www.drinkingnightmare.gov.au/internet/drinkingnightmare/publishing.nsf/Content/under-18#1 http://www.dassa.sa.gov.au/site/page.cfm?u=88 http://www.adf.org.au/ Nick Fairbairn: n_fairbairn@hotmail.com, 0413788584, 3026380 Helena Cox, Senior Constable ACT Police 62567460, Helena.Cox@afp.gov.au Geoff Munro; National Policy Manager, National Drug Foundation: (03) 9278 8111 (Telephone)
criterion mark
newsworthiness d
degree of difficulty cr+
sources d
fairness d
accuracy cr
cohesiveness and logicality cr
English expression p+
head cr
total cr+