Liquor Licensing Fees

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (14:37): Supplementary: what was the government modelling arrived at to come up with the budget figure that these fees are expected to reap in terms of how many licensed premises are expected to alter their opening hours?

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (14:38): Again, I would need to refer that to the Attorney, and I am sure she would need to refer it to Mr Soulio in relation to those particular numbers. The aggregate number was announced in last year's budget. This is actually just a long process after consultation where the final detail has been arrived at. Of course, on advice I'm told that they are not actually enacted until November, and the first licence impacts will be felt generally in about May or June next year when the annual licence renewal cycle comes about.

In terms of the original number, it would have been part of an aggregate number where in last year's budget, as the member knows, we outlined to ministers and departments, 'Your savings task as an agency is this.' The Attorney-General's Department would have worked together on a variety of things, one part of which was this: to say, 'The contribution towards either generating revenue or making savings is this particular number.' I'm not sure at that stage how much modelling Mr Soulio had done. Then at that stage they would have worked their way through the process.

There is of course in this case a precursor to it in that Mr Anderson had done a report and recommended an even higher level of fees and a risk-based assessment approach. He may have, together with Mr Soulio, commissioned or undertaken modelling for his original report that went to former attorney-general John Rau in relation to a risk-based assessment. I don't know the background to that. The current Attorney, based on advice from Mr Soulio, in the answer might be able to throw some light as to whether there was some modelling done by Mr Anderson and the commissioner when he was making his original recommendations or not.