Page 4756 - Week 16 - Wednesday, 28 November 1990
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The licensing authority will also be given a power to suspend, and ultimately to cancel, licences where these directions are not complied with. I think those of us who lived near licensed premises in the past would know what a great inconvenience it can be on occasions to be in that proximity. Clearly, a more flexible power on the part of the licensing authority is very important.
The Bill removes the current loophole in the Liquor Act whereby people can hide behind the corporate veil to avoid the provisions of the Act. I am told that there are a number of cases where that corporate veil has proven very effective in avoiding the operation of the Act. At present a company is able to obtain a liquor licence even though it is managed or owned by a person with a number of convictions under the Liquor Act. These convictions might be for something as serious as serving alcohol to under-age drinkers and yet, of course, nothing can be done in the present circumstances.
The licensing authority currently is unable to refuse to issue or transfer a licence even though a person associated with a company might be subject to pending charges or have convictions for offences against the Act itself. In both those circumstances there really needs to be some discretion. Naturally we all hope that the discretion is exercised with the greatest care and that people are not discriminated against for reasons that are or ought to be extrinsic to the operation of the Act. I think we have enough confidence in the standard and integrity of our public service in this town, at all levels, to realise that such powers can be exercised on the vast majority of occasions with the greatest discretion and good sense.
The Bill will allow the licensing authority to lift the corporate veil and take into account, when considering licence applications, the antecedents of any person who is substantially concerned in the management of the company or is able to substantially influence the company's activities or internal affairs. The Bill introduces similar provisions for people in a position of influence in a corporate body. I know that there are similar kinds of provisions in related areas of the law, and we are merely imitating those.
This Bill introduces a special licence category which can be tailored to suit applications which do not fall neatly within the existing licence categories or the licensed permit system - a further measure of flexibility. These special licences will be issued subject to such conditions as the circumstances dictate and might include, for example, the trading days and hours, the premises for which the licence is issued, the general conditions, such as the type and quantity of liquor to be sold, and other services which might be provided ancillary to liquor sales. All those things are quite important in establishing the way in
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