City liquor stores are profiting from the struggles of the vulnerable and should be banned from selling alcohol in the morning, says Adelaide City councillor Sandy Wilkinson.

Wilkinson said he would bring a motion to Adelaide City Council in the coming weeks urging the State Government to implement a ban on liquor sales in the CBD before 11am each day.

He said some city liquor stores were profiting from the alcohol addictions suffered by people who use the parklands.

“The (parklands) dry zone … is based on allowing alcohol consumption between 11am and 8pm,” Wilkinson told InDaily.

“There’s no point in having bottle shops selling alcohol before that time. It only encourages people to not follow that restriction.

“I don’t think it’s right that major retailers should be profiting from selling alcohol in the mornings. It’s just fuelling the problem.”

The proposed ban would coincide with the daily end of the timed dry zone in the parklands, which applies from 8pm to 11am the next day.

The council last night approved an extension of the parklands dry zone for another 12 months.

Attorney-General John Rau said any such proposal would be considered as part of the State Government’s forthcoming review of the Liquor Licensing Act.

“We are about to launch a major review of the Liquor Licensing Act and it may be that this issue should be considered as part of that,” Rau told InDaily.

“I will consider the proposal once I have received it.”

Scott Wilson, of the Aboriginal Drug and Alcohol Council, said he supported the proposal.

“It’s long overdue,” he said.

“If people can get access to alcohol any time they want … you can have a dry zone 24 hours a day, but people are going to consume the alcohol, and they’re going to consume it somewhere, and more than likely it will be in the dry zone.

“If you can … buy the grog, you’re going to go straight into the parklands and you’ll get a fine.”

“Bottlo’s around the parklands are open pretty bloody early in the morning.”

A man sleeps in the parklands. Photo: Nat Rogers / InDaily

Wilson said preventing people from purchasing alcohol early in the morning would delay a person’s drinking cycle and allow them to access services to improve their situation in the meantime.

However he said the parklands dry zone itself criminalises a health condition – addiction – and was inconsistent with the recommendations of the 1987-1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.

Last night, the council voted to request a 12 month extension for the parklands dry zone, to be followed by a three-month evaluation period.

Last night’s motion also “noted that the dry zone is a transitional arrangement” and included a suite of measures aimed at helping vulnerable people drinking in the parklands.

The measures include:

• a scheme allowing drinkers to have dry zone breach fines waived if they enter alcohol rehabilitation programs;
• a “safe sit down area” in the parklands with running water, public toilets, seating and shade;
• and an investigation into whether Adelaide City Council should have a policy that emphasises harm minimisation to curb excessive alcohol consumption.