News Service from House Harris

QLD: Toolies give schoolies a bad name

GOLD COAST, Nov 23 AAP - "Toolies" are once again giving schoolies a bad name at this year's school leaver festival on the Gold Coast, racking up fourtimes the number of arrests over their younger counterparts.

Police say as day two of schoolies got underway, 124 people have been arrested, of which only 24 were school graduates.

As with past years, the majority of arrests were made up by toolies, peoplegatecrashing the party event, which is held annually by Year 12 students celebrating the end of the high school.

Gold Coast District Superintendent Jim Keogh said it was disappointing to see the number of toolie arrests on the rise, while schoolies seemed to be heeding the warnings about unruly behaviour.

"We've gone from 95 to 100 in the arrest stakes, while for schoolies they've gone down," he told reporters on the Gold Coast.

The number of schoolie arrests, involving drunken behaviour, public nuisance issues and one drugs-related offence, was down from 33 the same time lastyear.

Up to 45,000 congregated in the hub of Surfers Paradise on Saturday, about half of which were schoolies.

Despite some on-going concern about swimming at night, Supt Keogh said schoolies appeared to be finally heeding general warnings and he was pleased with their overall behaviour.

"I like to think there's a trend where they're out there having fun withoutrelying on alcohol," he said.

Schoolies Advisory Committee's Mark Raeburn agreed, saying this year's students were one of the most well behaved.

"We worked very hard on education this year, getting into the schools before schoolies and telling the kids that this is really about enjoying themselves but being safe," he said.

"I think that message is getting through."

Police will continue to target the purchase of alcohol for minors, with oneparent being fined600 after buying pre-mixed spirits for his underage daughter.

Supt Keogh conceded Schoolies Week would never become problem-free.

"You've got to be realistic, if you put 20,000 teenagers into an entertainment precinct I think it'd be somewhat ambitious to think that we'd ever getto zero arrests," he said.

"We strive to reduce it."

AAP cjjfm=0A