Fun stops at one for PCEC guests

The 100,000 people it’s predicted will attend functions each year at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre shouldn’t expect the entertainment to go on all night long.

In fact any post-conference schmoozing will have to wind up by 1am, because that’s when the PCEC and its neighbouring bar will close.

Both the PCEC and the newly opened Metro Bar and Bistro, located at the Medina Hotel next door, have failed to secure an extension to their trading hours beyond 1am from the liquor licensing authority.

The decision has drawn criticism from tourism representatives and highlighted a new trend of liquor licence interventions by the Department of Health.

The Department of Health intervened in the PCEC and Metro Bar and Bistro special facility licence applications and was successful in achieving trading restrictions.

According to the decision of the Director of Liquor Licensing, handed down on July 15, the Metro Bar and Bistro’s licence application originally sought to trade from 6am to 1am, or two hours after the designated conclusion of the last function or event held, seven days a week.

The executive director of health, Margaret Stevens, objected to the further two hours of trade after a function.

The PCEC had originally wanted to serve drinks through a cafe 24 hours a day. Instead the facility can only sell alcohol until 1am and packaged liquor until midnight.

PCEC or Medina Hotel guests seeking suitable drinking venues after 1am may find it difficult. 

Most of the State’s tavern and hotel licences close at midnight. Those trading after that have extended trading permits, usually until 1am, and need to reapply for the permit usually every two years.

The State’s nightclubs can open until 6am.

Liquor licensing lawyers said action on behalf of the Department of Health was making it more difficult to obtain ETPs.

However, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health said while the Department was consistently involved in liquor licensing issues, only a small portion of objections were lodged against applicants.

“In 1998 the Liquor Licensing Act was amended to specifically allow the executive director of public health to intervene against licence applications for the purpose of protecting the health of the community,” she told WA Business News.

Department of Health records show that, of the 359 applications the department examined between July 2003 and June 2004, only 30 objections were lodged. The previous year it objected to 23 cases out of 386 that were examined.

Williams Ellison partner John Prior said the Department of Health was intervening more frequently, particularly in the past five years, which was affecting licence conditions.

“What they [Department of Health] quite often do is get conditions on a licence that restrict things, which they think minimises harm,” he said.

Phillips Fox partner Dan Mossenson said the Department of Health was increasing the costs associated in getting a licence and had been successful in securing trade restrictions on some licence holders.

“They are prolonging the [liquor licensing court] hearing and they are influencing the outcome on some occasions,” he said.

Kate Lamont, restaurateur and a member of the Board of Tourism Western Australia, said the recent PCEC and Metro Bar and Bistro decisions made it difficult to project WA as a vibrant international destination.

“From a tourism perspective it is disappointing that on the one hand we are trying very hard to drive tourism, and while I have no in principle objection to minimising harm, at the end of the day surely individuals have the right to control themselves,” Ms Lamont said.

“Tourists don’t necessarily want to eat and drink at times conventional to residents and I’m disappointed with the decisions. We’re trying hard to show ourselves as an international city, so it is disappointing.

“The PCEC and the Metro Bar are in the CBD, it’s suppose to be a hub.”

The Department of Health spokeswoman said research showed extended trading hours was associated with a dramatic increase in alcohol sales between 1991 and 1995.

“ETPs also have the potential to impact upon the timing and the location of alcohol-related harm,” she said.

“International experience shows that changes in trading hours and days has some impact on the pattern of problems associated with alcohol intoxication.”