Kava smuggling to NT Indigenous communities spikes after import controls lifted, leaders say
The Northern Territory Police Force says it seized a large quantity of kava bound for Arnhem Land communities last month. (Supplied: Northern Territory Police Force)
In short:
Kava — a drink with sedative effects used widely in the Pacific — is being smuggled in greater quantities into the Northern Territory's remote Indigenous communities.
It is sold for up to $1,000 per kilogram on the black market — 20 times what it costs outside the territory.
What's next?
Locals and experts say with commercial imports likely to continue, it's time to rethink how kava is regulated in the territory.
Kava smuggling into the Northern Territory's remote Indigenous communities is on the rise, with local leaders fearing the black market price of the drink is draining family finances and fuelling social problems.
Police and Indigenous leaders say the amount of kava being smuggled into communities has surged in the years since the Morrison government relaxed import restrictions on the beverage.
Commercial imports of kava, a drink with sedative effects widely used in Pacific Islands, resumed in 2021 as part of a diplomatic push to strengthen Australia's relations in the region.
But it remains banned in the NT due to its past misuse in some parts of Arnhem Land.
Kava has been smuggled into Arnhem Land for decades. (Reuters: David Gray)
Kava has been smuggled into the region's communities since the 1990s, but the illicit trade slowed following a federal government ban on commercial imports in 2007, before import restrictions were subsequently watered down.
Now, local community leaders say smuggling is on the rise again — and there are fears the trade is draining family finances, with illicit powdered kava costing up to $1,000 per kilogram.
"Those people who smuggle kava find there's a bit of pocket money that they create, but it doesn't help the people out here," Yingiya Guyula, who represents the Arnhem Land electorate of Mulka in the NT's legislative assembly, said.
Yingiya Guyula has warned kava smuggling is impacting families in Arnhem Land. (ABC News: Peter Garnish)
Mr Guyula said there had been an increase in social problems caused by excessive use of the exorbitantly priced, black market kava.
"It virtually takes the money away and there's hardly anything for the family and the children to survive on,"he said.
Acting Sergeant Nicholas Mitchell, from the NT Police Force dog operations unit, said police were intercepting more kava bound for remote communities, with "an uptick" in seizures over the past six months.
Five busts during that time involved quantities ranging from 120 to 250 kilograms of kava.
Loading...With kava being sold for up to $1,000 per kilogram on the black market — 20 times what it costs outside the NT — criminals were trying to chase big profits, Acting Sergeant Mitchell said.
Timing 'suspicious' but link unclear
Kava is sold commercially in Australia as a soluble powder — made from the roots of kava plants found throughout Pacific Islands — and importers require a permit.
The drink, which has huge traditional significance in Pacific Islands, has now become a commercial product, with kava bars appearing as far away as New York.
For more than a decade, the only way to bring kava into Australia was on a flight from a Pacific country where it was grown, with a limit of two kilograms for personal use.
The root of the kava plant is turned into a soluble powder for commercial sale. (ABC: Cam Lang)
That changed in 2019 when then-prime minister Scott Morrison, during a visit to Vanuatu, announced a dramatic relaxation of the rules as part of his so-called "Pacific Step-up" policy to strengthen relations with Pacific nations.
The personal limit was increased to four kilograms, and then in 2021, commercial imports of kava were allowed.
Between 2021 and 2024, more than 400 tonnes of kava were imported from Tonga, Fiji and Vanuatu, according to Food Standards Australia New Zealand.
Kava has ceremonial purposes but is now also a commercial product sold around the world. (Reuters: Edgar Su)
But experts say it is unclear whether the increase in supply is driving the rise in smuggling to the NT.
Alan Clough, professor of public health at James Cook University, said it was too early to determine a definitive link.
Professor Alan Clough has researched kava use in Arnhem Land. (Supplied: Alan Clough)
"Just the synchronicity of it makes it highly suspicious, but it would take some really good data and some really good data analysis to draw a conclusion about that," he said.
Professor Clough, who has spent decades researching the impacts of kava on communities in Arnhem Land, said the social and economic impact of the illicit kava trade was clear.
"I estimated at one stage, in the Arnhem Land communities, that probably one dollar out of every six dollars that the community had available as cash was going to the illegal kava dealers," he said.
"Routine activities of work, school and the like can become disrupted if there's a lot of kava in the community and people are drinking it in very long sessions."
Calls for rethink on ban
Locals and experts say the ban on kava in the Northern Territory has never worked — and that smugglers have continued to bring it into remote communities.
They say with commercial imports likely to continue, it's time to rethink how kava is regulated in the territory.
Mr Guyula said despite the harm, many people saw drinking kava — with its relaxing, slightly euphoric effects — as a less harmful alternative to alcohol and other drugs.
Kava was sold in Australian supermarkets after import restrictions were lifted. (ABC Riverina: Gary-Jon Lysaght)
And they want it legalised under community-driven controls.
"We would like to keep people drinking kava, similar to a social club after work,"he said.
"For a cost that would keep the family going, still have pocket money for their children and families and food."
A pilot of the new kava import controls introduced by the Morrison government ended in late 2023.
The relaxed restrictions will continue until the federal government makes a decision on future arrangements, according to the Office of Drug Control.
An evaluation of the pilot found there had been "positive cultural, social and economic outcomes" for Pacific Islander communities but there was "limited evidence available to assess impacts on Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait communities" and noted further monitoring was required.