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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-07-03 Daily Xml
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LIQUOR LICENSING

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (15:59): I rise to speak today on the mixed messages this state government is giving on support for live music. I draw members' attention to a recent media report, 'Police hit liquor licensing hurdle', which appeared in The Advertiser on 13 June. The story outlines that police have had a major setback, as it is described, in a bid to slap strict new liquor licensing conditions on 13 city pubs. Those pubs—and I would say they are more diverse than pubs—are: HQ Complex, Electric Circus, Lavish Club Lounge, Woolshed on Hindley, Rosemont Hotel, Zhivago, Colonel Light Hotel, The Marble Bar, White Rabbit, Dog and Duck, the Crazy Horse Revue, Strat's 108 Lounge and The Palace. Those venues—

The Hon. T.J. Stephens: Do they have live music at The Palace?

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS: They do not all have live music, and they are certainly not all pubs, as the Hon. Terry Stephens quite correctly remarks. Those venues were lumped in together by the Liquor Licensing Enforcement Branch to face the courts in June this year after an operation that was conducted the previous year. It was finalised in January this year, which was when the police put forward their case; these licensees first heard about the case in June.

The case, as it unfolded before the Licensing Court, threw all of those licensees together into one pool, with disregard to the fact that White Rabbit and The Marble Bar no longer exist. They lumped them all in together because they claimed to all be on Light Square and Hindley Street. Several of those venues are on neither; certainly, Zhivago is on Currie Street and used to be on Light Square several years ago. But, it is no longer next to Savvy Bar Lounge, where we know there was a murder; I note that bar was not one of those selected by the police to face this strict crackdown.

I draw members' attention particularly to HQ, because the evidence given against HQ drew on reports from Kings Cross, which is even a little further away than either Hindley Street or Light Square, to West Terrace, where HQ is located, and talked about 15 Army personnel who had attempted to enter the premises by force. Police were called to that incident, and I believe capsicum spray was employed. I would draw to the attention of the Liquor Licensing Enforcement Branch that that is not necessarily the fault of that venue, and it has certainly not boded well for that venue in feeling that they can call on the police for assistance.

However, what I am particularly concerned about is that the police have recommended to the courts that the band room in HQ be taken from 1,100 capacity, as it is now, down to a capacity of 700. This would have a massive effect on live music touring bands in this state. It would leave us without a medium-sized venue as an option.

Certainly, in upcoming tours, we would not see the likes of Tame Impala, Boy & Bear or the Foals, or the Hoodoo Gurus, in recent years. There would in fact be no venue between that size of around 700 up to the capacity of the Thebarton Theatre, which is 2,000. So, that would leave a gaping hole in our live music touring schedule and, as I said, it is a mixed message from this government. On one hand, the Weatherill government says 'We support live music', but on the other hand, we are cracking down on these venues.

These venues have all been lumped together yet they are varied in their sizes. The police case put that these venues were also lumped together because of their capacity (that being over 300). I would say that The Marble Bar is under 300, Zhivago was under 300—it is now 350, but as I also said, it does not actually exist on Light Square anymore—Strat's is 250, White Rabbit is 165, and Lavish is 200. These are smaller venues under the government's determination. There is no rhyme or reason why these venues has been picked and, as I said, Savvy Bar, for example, where there was a murder, has not.

I call on the government to also consider why they are doing this, on one hand, when the Late Night Trading Code of Practice, which will implement lockouts, polycarbonate and tempered glass, marshals for the drinks, and monitoring such as metal detectors—all of which HQ currently employs—will take effect from 1 October this year and will come into practice, and yet all these venues have been singled out for this strange dragging through the courts with little regard for the processes of consultation with these venues currently going on with the Late Night Trading Code of Practice.

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