Page 5660 - Week 13 - Thursday, 18 November 2010
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(a) an analysis of the effect the 2010 fees determination has had on the number of licensed venues operating in the ACT and trading hours they adopt;
(b) an evaluation of impact of continuing to use $100 000 as the threshold test for the ‘annual liquor purchase’, noting it has not been reviewed for at least 10 years; and
(c) an analysis of impacts of expanding the 2010 fees determination to take account of the full list of seven risk factors listed in section 229(2)(b) of the Liquor Act 2010.”.
(3) Insert new paragraph (3):
“(3) the Attorney-General, in making any new fee determination, take into account the results of the review.”.
MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Attorney-General, Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Water, Minister for Energy and Minister for Police and Emergency Services) (11.38): The government will not be supporting the motion proposed by Mrs Dunne this morning and I will outline the reasons for that shortly. I will also indicate that the government is prepared to accept the amendment proposed by Mr Rattenbury and I will deal with that accordingly.
The Labor government are implementing a risk-based fee structure that sends a price signal around the consequences of late-night trading. We are implementing laws that are going to provide a better capacity for our police, for our regulatory services and for licensees to conduct their businesses safely and to reduce the harm caused by alcohol-related violence and antisocial behaviour in our community.
We should be under no misapprehension about the significant impact that alcohol-related violence and antisocial behaviour have on our community. It is considered by the Chief Health Officer as one of the most dominant causes of harm prevalent in our community to date. It has major impacts on our hospital services, our ambulance services, our police, our courts and our mental health services. It has major impacts on owners of public and private property and it has a detrimental impact on the quality of entertainment precincts and the ability for law-abiding citizens to enjoy them.
We know that the overriding factor when it comes to harm—and the overriding evidence points to that factor—is how late you trade. The later you trade, the greater the risk and the greater the potential for harm. That is not me saying that. It comes from studies commissioned across Australia and it is the view of ACT Policing. The later you trade, the more significant the risk and the greater the potential for harm. That is why we have introduced these new laws—to address these issues and to establish a risk-based regulatory regime. The fee structure made under these laws reflects that policy objective to address the issue of harm.
The ACT taxpayer is investing heavily in providing further support to address issues of alcohol-related violence and harm. I could point to the tens of millions of dollars
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