Page 4109 - Week 09 - Thursday, 26 August 2010
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offence in clause 109 requires licensees to prominently display signage about the consequences of behaving badly towards an employee who has refused service. This encourages patrons to be responsible for their consumption of liquor on licensed premises. Mrs Dunne’s amendment is also consistent with the criminal law, which recognises that people who are intoxicated and who engage in criminal conduct should be held responsible for their behaviour.
MRS DUNNE (Ginninderra) (5.42): I thank members for their support for this important improvement to the legislation.
Amendment agreed to.
Clause 9, as amended, agreed to.
Clauses 10 to 24, by leave, taken together and agreed to.
Clause 25.
MRS DUNNE (Ginninderra) (5.43): I move amendment No 2 circulated in my name [see schedule 1 at page 4136].
I draw to members’ attention to the fact that amendments Nos 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10, 12, 22, 23, 25, 29 and 33 are related. The most important of these amendments is, in fact, amendment No 10, but No 2 is the first that arrives, so I will speak on it here.
As I have said, amendment No 10 is the most important. What amendment No 10 does, to help people along the way, is insert a new section 92A, which establishes the process by which a licence holder or permit holder or an applicant for a licence or permit can apply to the commissioner for an exemption from preparing or holding a RAMP.
This section requires the commissioner, in deciding whether an exemption application should be approved, to be satisfied that the exemption is not inconsistent with the harm minimisation and public safety principles in the legislation. As you would be aware, Madam Assistant Speaker, these principles are outlined in considerable detail in section 10 of the bill. The commissioner will be able to require the provision of further information or documents to assist in the decision making process, including having access to the premises for inspection purposes. The commissioner will be able to refuse to consider the application, if additional information, documents or access is not provided. The time of making the decision and the requirement to communicate the decision remains as it does for all other similar functions in the bill.
It is important to reiterate the reason for this. This is not an amendment which would be available to larger venues. It will not prescribe specific circumstances in which the commissioner might grant an exemption. This amendment is intended to help reduce unnecessary, onerous, expensive and unreasonable red tape on the small business sector. It is designed to recognise those small suburban premises, mainly restaurants, who have only a few tables and one or two staff and do not stay open until all hours and have no record of non-compliance with the law and no record of bad behaviour by patrons and where there is little risk of any of these issues occurring in the future. I
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