POLICE around Swan Hill had an uneventful Australia Day this year, with only a few minor incidents recorded during the long weekend.
Swan Hill Police Detective Steve Mitchell said on the whole, revellers were well-behaved this year, and noted his surprise at recent statistics which indicated a nation-wide spike in alcohol fuelled violence on Australia Day in recent years.
“We pro-actively police any of these big days, and I don’t think we have had any real Australia Day issues in our patch,” he said.
“I would think that media publicity about people behaving themselves and drinking in moderation is coming to fruition to a certain degree.”
Three incidents were recorded over the long weekend, only one of them violent.
Three men in their mid-20s were subdued with pepper spray on Saturday night after a fight broke out near a public toilet block at McCrae Street in the Swan Hill CBD.
For more on this story, see Wednesday’s edition of The
Guardian (30/01/13).
