The Woolworths Group is continuing with their plans to develop a Darwin Dan Murphy superstore in the vicinity of three dry Aboriginal communities, despite strong opposition from local community leaders and over 150,000 Australians protesting the development.
4ZZZ reporter Teagan Laszlo spoke with Olivia Williams, Founder of Blak Business and John Patterson, CEO of the Northern Territories Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance to discuss why they believe the proposed development is unethical, and the broader issues surrounding how corporations and governments interact with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Build it. Supply and demand. If no one wants it there they can boycott the business and watch it go under, unless of course the business thrives instead.
Generally when Indigenous communities go dry, it’s to protect members of the community from abusing alcohol. There’s a greater risk of alcohol abuse in these communities because of a whole history of disenfranchisement, insecure housing, generational trauma, stuff like that. So personally I wouldn’t say an economic argument is right here. There may be demand for alcohol, but if that demand leads to alcohol abuse and all the terrible shit that brings, and many members of the community don’t want alcohol around for those reasons, then it’s better not to build a Dan Murphy.
Last I heard this is the same spot where there are two bottle shops in a stone’s throw from the site.