PM warns Qld, NT on alcohol abuse Prime Minister Julia Gillard says she'll act against Queensland and the Northern Territory if their policies threaten hard-won gains on alcohol abuse in indigenous communities. Ms Gillard will use an annual address on indigenous disadvantage to warn that "rivers of grog" are returning to indigenous communities. She says she holds deep concerns about policies being pursued by the Queensland and Northern Territory governments. "I have a real fear that the rivers of grog that wreaked such havoc among indigenous communities are starting to flow once again," Ms Gillard will say in her Closing the Gap speech on Wednesday. The government will take action in response to any irresponsible changes that threaten to forfeit our hard-won gains. The Australian newspaper reports she'll say closing the gap on indigenous disadvantage was hard enough without "retrograde steps" that risk undoing the gains made so far. She will highlight concerns about the Northern Territory government's decision to dismantle a banned drinkers register, which was working to reduce alcohol-related violence. And she'll warn the Queensland government to exercise "extreme caution" as it reviews alcohol management plans in 19 remote indigenous communities. The plans restrict or prohibit the sale and possession of alcohol, and carry penalties including jail for those found to have breached them. Before he was elected, Queensland Premier Campbell Newman said the plans had not worked to reduce alcohol-related violence and promised a review. His minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Glen Elmes subsequently said there signs the plans had indeed worked. "If you look at the evidence ... in most communities, you can see a reduction in crimes against the person, you can look at school attendance figures and see them on an upward slope," Mr Elmes said in October. The communities themselves are much calmer and more peaceful than they were some years ago. But he said the government was committed to the review and it would be up to individual communities to decide on the future of the restrictions. He said some mayors were happy for the bans to continue but others wanted to move away from the restrictions. Mr Elmes has said communities that want to ditch alcohol management plans will have to show they can maintain public safety, including evidence that crimes against the person are falling and school attendance is rising. The Newman government's review has attracted some strong criticism, including from leading indigenous academic Professor Marcia Langton. Prof Langton says any easing of the bans will threaten lives, especially those of women and children.