Page 5594 - Week 13 - Thursday, 17 November 2011
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supporting the amendment. I commend the reference to the justice and community safety committee. I commend Mr Rattenbury for his amendment.
MS GALLAGHER (Molonglo—Chief Minister, Minister for Health and Minister for Industrial Relations) (5.18): The government will not be supporting this motion. Members will be aware that a lot of time has been spent reviewing, meeting and consulting since the new liquor laws commenced late last year. We do not believe it is time for yet another review and inquiry.
The new liquor laws were passed by this Assembly in August last year after a lengthy period of community and industry consultation and feedback. The new laws commenced operation on 1 December. The Attorney-General made the liquor fees determination on 19 October last year and a disallowance motion by the Liberals on the new fees was debated on 18 November. The fees are required to offset the additional budgetary costs of 10 new police officers and additional ORS staff to address alcohol-related violence and antisocial behaviour.
The motion was amended to instead require a report on the impact of the new liquor fees on market participation in the liquor industry, an evaluation of the impact of using the $100,000 threshold test and additional risk factors for setting liquor licence fees. The timing of the review was agreed in the Legislative Assembly last year as part of the process of developing risk-based fees under the new liquor licensing laws requiring the Attorney-General to table a report by 1 October this year. The government had already committed to a two-year review of the operation of the act which is still expected to take place.
There has been extensive work and consultation in undertaking this review just six months after the reforms commenced. The consultation process received 22 submissions from the public, the liquor industry and the Greens, including two roundtables with key liquor stakeholders, which the Attorney-General chaired. Letters were sent to all licensees inviting comments on the review and a draft options paper was publicly released in July inviting further submissions on the optional fee models presented in the options paper which culminated in the final report.
The government has continued its evidence-based approach to charging fees and now has greater flexibility to ensure that those who pose a greater risk to community safety pay more for their licences than those who choose to close earlier and run a boutique-style establishment.
The review found that rather than seeing a flight from the marketplace over the six-month review period from 1 December 2010 to the end of May this year, there has been little change in the number of liquor licences since the new liquor fees were introduced when compared with previous years. For example, in December 2010, 636 licensees applied to renew their liquor licences compared with 592 in 2009-10, 612 in 2008-09, and 601 in 2007-08. The review found that the current trend in the liquor industry indicates a relatively stable liquor market with a slight upturn in participation rates with a number of new licence applications received by ORS this year. The statistics speak for themselves.
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