Help is there if it is needed

ROSS FITZGERALD

   Like many readers I have been following the Barnaby Joyce story with interest. Perhaps more interest than some, for a number of reasons.

I must say that I find it disgusting that whoever filmed this video of a well-known Federal MP collapsed on a main street in Canberra did not have the decency to offer him some assistance. Is this how people behave in the age of social media?

Barnaby Joyce was candid about his situation and admitted that alcohol was a factor in his behaviour.

This incident has raised the broader issue of alcohol consumption by members of state and federal parliaments.

This is a subject with a long history and widespread ramifications, including whether or not MPs should be tested for alcohol and other drugs. But there is really nothing new in any of this, sadly. We have a long history of problems with the grog. Before Australia became a nation in 1901, in colonial parliaments drunken behaviour by members was largely tolerated. 

Cyril Pearl, in his 1958 book Wild Men of Sydney commented about the New South Wales parliament of the late 1880’s. 

   “Violent behaviour and violent language were condoned or scarcely rebuked. Fights between members were not uncommon and the sight of a drunken statesman falling off his bench during debate excited amusement rather than indignation,” he wrote.

Some members were notorious for their drunken rants. During an acrimonious parliamentary debate, as Pearl pointed out, a leading Government MP “offered to take on any three members of the Opposition who were willing to come outside.”

The long-serving Premier of NSW, Sir John Robertson, was an avid advocate of the benefits of the booze. As he said in the Legislative Assembly: “None of the men who in this colony have left footprints behind them have been cold water men.”

   Things are not as bad today thankfully and I think having increasing numbers of women in our parliaments has helped.  But we certainly still have a long way to go.

At the very least there should be some sort of intervention for MPs who are clearly having difficulties with the booze. It is important to understand that alcoholism is a health problem, not a moral issue.

By far the most effective agency helping alcoholics to stop drinking and stay stopped is Alcoholics Anonymous. So, I usually say to those MPs, their staff and families who contact me for assistance with problems with the booze: “Why not avail yourself of the best?” The fact is that along with people of all types, AA members in Australia and overseas also include some prominent politicians, actors, artists, members of the media, and even some leading judges and lawyers

Just as the illness of alcoholism does not discriminate between different occupations, genders, level of education, atheists, agnostics and believers, neither does AA. 

In fact, there are AA meetings every night and day in the major cities and towns throughout Australia. And in case politicians are worried about public scrutiny I would emphasise that it is, as its name suggests, anonymous.

Ross Fitzgerald  is Emeritus Professor of History and Politics at Griffith University. 

The Daily Telegraph (Sydney) , February 21, 2024, p 19.