Dry Communities in NT ?

If you take alcohol into an area where it is totally prohibited, you are liable for penalty if caught. There is a difference, though, between an area that is "dry" meaning not being in possession of any alcohol, and "dry" meaning that there is no public drinking allowed.If you are going into remote parts of the NT, you will need to check what rules apply.

It's not just the NT. Remember the pollie who got done at Leichart on CY for keeping a bottle of wine on the aircraft ?

We drove through dry communities in 2001 and did not have a problem, we kept our supply of cans in the bottom of the esky and no one asked any questions.

I guess times have changed since then.

This is not just driving out to a community. On my way up north from Alice to Darwin, I suddenly found on the main highway a sign indicating that I was passing thru Aboriginal lands with a total alcohol prohibition. This caught us totally unaware, and for 20km we were in panic hoping that we wouldn't get caught with our 2L of contraband grog on board. Breathed a sigh of relief when we came across a sign saying we were leaving those lands. I still don't know if I was breaking the law.
Gerry

d200Dug, I work on these lands and essentially the law applies if you stay on the lands or pass anywhere that you require a permit to travel. Eg... The Tanami Track passes thru many lands but the road is considered public, I believe you would be ok provided you dont leave the rad and enter traditional lands. On the other hand if you require a permit to travel ie some of the AP lands in SA the alcohol is strictly prohibited. Check with the sate or territory police.

Cheers

A

From what we could work out, if it is a public road, i.e. you do not need a permit to travel, you can carry booz.
Carrying it for your personal use is OK.
Just do not consume it in a public place, share it or sell it.
The area around you may have a ban in place for the locals.

There are plenty of sign around the NT. About 1m x 1.5m , white background. Thought we should stop and read one at one stage. :o)

You CANNOT consume it within the confines of the "area" as far as I am aware...even if you are traveling through.

You can, however, travel through the "area" with it.

I went to the Barunga Aboriginal Festival (Sth of Katherine) earlier this year and was stopped by the cops on the way in...told him I had a few Darwin Stubbies on board...he said just leave them where they are and don't drink 'em.

I abided by their wishes, but on the Saturday morning, some of the dignitaries, both black and white, were talking on stage and complained about having hangovers, ... very hypocritical

I did the GCR in 07 and required two permits to transit through to Curtin Springs, provided I didn't veer from the main track (a couple of detours excepted). The permits stated that I wasn't allowed to visit aboriginal communities and requested (important word here) that I refrain from drinking alcohol in the areas.

My first overnight stop in the area was Warburton and I stayed at the roadhouse. There were no signs indicating that I couldn't drink my own alcohol anywhere in the compound (which was about 2K away from the aboriginal community).

Also staying there was a WA Govt survey party (counting camels). When I wandered out to the communal area carryng a beer in a stubby holder, the woman in charge of the party went ape bleep . She told me that I was liable for a $5000 fine, loss of vehicle blah blah blah. I asked her where she got her info from and she did the old 'official rules' act without providing any real facts. She was a very unpleasant woman.

I then asked her for evidence that I might be committing a crime and how she could verify this via the wording of my transit permit. Could she produce a permit of her own that showed that what I was doing was illegal. Surprisingly, she didn't actually have a permit to be there (interesting) and when I showed her my permit she dismissed it as erroneous despite the fact that it was issued by the local land council. All the while her 'crew were watching with interest.

She was still vehement about it so I suggested that we call in a mediator - the local constable - to decide the matter. She wasn't prepared to do this so I told her that if she couldn't put her money where her mouth was then her mouth should stay closed.

Needless to say, I had a couple more quiet beers in the campground and her crew were wondering what sort of BS they'd been spun.

From what I can gather you can transit via main thoroughfares through aboriginal land with alcohol in your vehicle provided this is accepted in the permit you get. Generally, if it's for your own personal use and you're not going to onsell it or provide it otherwise to dry native communities then it's not a problem.

So the bottom line is; get the permit and read the fine print.

On a slightly different note one of the problems we had up in the north west was stocking up with adequate supplies for extended remote travel. The limitations of purchasing cask wine between 12 noon and 6pm and restriction on quantity made it difficult. No problems with bottled wine and spirits though. It was also a bit of pot luck as the rules were not the same in different towns let alone states. Don't like carrying glass if I can avoid it.

We tried to find out the correct advice to travel central Aus. (NT and WA) last year and found so many different views, (All claimed they were correct)
At most times we started with 1 doz wine and 2 doz cans of VB. for a two week trip.
At most road house camping spots we were warned of the fines for carrying and drinkining.

Common sense should be used;
1. Don't get bleep
2. Do not walk around drinking or let the cans or bottles be seen.
3. Don't offer others drinks.
4. Enjoy a tipple with your meal and your partner.

When purchasing that much grog in Alice Springs I had to supply my Name, Lisc. No. etc. and what I was going to do with it.
"For personal consumption in transit back to my home in Sydney".
We may not have been perfectly legal but did not have any hassles with the law and were quite open when asked by police what we were carrying.

Hope that is some help

PS last trip the only time we were pulled over by police and checked was driving into Laverton WA. Our son was a cop there and the local patrol stopped us as they knew his folks were coming to visit and driving a white Toyota ute :-)

Coppers are the worst stickybeaks before we had the ute started they had radioed back to base giving them the gossip about us !!!

Here are the facts

Try this

Or this

Cheers Steve.