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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1995 Week 11 Hansard (12 December) . . Page.. 2905 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (continuing):

We will also increase the powers of the Liquor Licensing Board to deal with licensees who fail to conduct their premises correctly. As I indicated earlier, I firmly believe that most licensees do run their businesses responsibly, but a few have allowed the considerations of profit to override their other responsibilities. Alcohol is not just another commodity. It is a drug. For some it is a drug of addiction and for some it can be physically and socially harmful. A licensee needs to be conscious of this and conduct his or her premises accordingly. Penalties such as licence suspensions, licence cancellations or trading hour limitations are open to the board in cases of a licensee failing in his obligations under the Act. The Government will press for appropriate uses of the sanctions contained in the Act for breaches and will press for criminal sanctions where those offences are serious or breach criminal law.

Mr Berry: This is a nice stunt.

MR HUMPHRIES: Mr Berry does not seem to think it is very important. That is too bad. Concern has been raised by the industry about the structure of the Liquor Licensing Board. In particular, there is some concern that the registrar, who is the enforcement officer, is one of three voting members of the board. This leads to a perception that the registrar is both the prosecutor and a member of the judging panel. The Government will change the structure of the board, expanding it from three to five. It will include a senior police officer not directly involved in liquor law enforcement, or a retired senior police officer, and a community representative who is appointed by the Minister in consultation with industry representative groups but who is not a licensee. In addition, the registrar will no longer have status as a voting member of the board but will be retained as a member to provide technical advice to the board in its deliberations.

I am happy to consult with the industry in the appointment of a member of the board, because I am satisfied that the industry generally would like to see high standards maintained. If the industry itself acts to prevent many of the problems we see from time to time by maintaining pressure on those who skirt the provisions of the Act, I am sure we will see fewer matters being brought before the board and more compliance with responsible provisions.

The Government strongly supports the use of occupancy loadings as a safety measure in licensed premises and strongly supports a system whereby those loadings are determined with appropriate advice on the fire safety of premises. The Government has always been a supporter of occupancy loadings. Indeed, in the Assembly last year we were instrumental in having amendments made to ensure that in the determination of occupancy loadings the proper range of considerations were taken into account and there was not just an arbitrary fixation on floor areas as a criterion, and we stand by those amendments. Occupancy loadings will be strictly enforced. The formation of a special patrol from the AFP's city beat squad to deal specifically with liquor will provide for the continual enforcement of those loadings. The Government will quickly move to act against premises which fail to comply with those loadings. Members will have noted the legislation which I tabled earlier today. We will not compromise on safety. A determination can now be appealed to an appropriate merit review body, which addresses our concerns about the process of determination, but a licence to make money at the expense of safety standards will not be sanctioned by this Government.

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