This time next year, buying liquor in Western Australia could be a whole lot easier.
This time next year, buying liquor in Western Australia could be a whole lot easier.
You could stop off at a café and buy a glass of wine, without having to buy a meal.
You could go to the local bottle shop on Sunday and buy a six-pack of beer, though Coles Myer’s Liquorland store might not be open.
You could drop into the cozy new bar that’s just opened around the corner from the noisy beer barn.
And the local bowling club could boost its coffers by selling drinks for a wedding reception.
For these changes to come to fruition, the Gallop government will need to embrace the reforms recommended by its independent review of the Liquor Licensing Act.
The government has already spent more than six months evaluating the report and doesn’t plan to formally respond until the autumn sitting of parliament.
But Racing and Gaming Minister Mark McGowan has indicated that he is looking favourably on reform.
“In the interests of small business and tourism, I believe there is a broad case for liberalisation of liquor laws,” he told WA Business News.
“More vibrant and exciting liquor laws will promote more tourism jobs in our community. I think the community is ready for change.”
Jim Freemantle, who chaired the review, also believes the community is ready for a more liberal approach.
“I don’t think it is a radical report,” he said. “I think it is pushing along a path the community is telling us they want to go.”
In the meantime, all of the sectional lobby groups are trying their best to be heard.
Restaurant and Catering Association of WA executive director Terry Bright believes there is a need for change.
“We’re talking about evolution of a Liquor Act that was set up in Queen Victoria’s time and has been covered in band aids ever since,” Mr Bright said.
By contrast, the Australian Hotels Association is fighting hard to resist change it believes would damage its members.
AHA WA chief executive Bradley Woods seeks to belittle the proposed reforms as “the personal views of the committee”.
“There is very little substantive fact or research to back up the recommendations for deregulation,” Mr Woods said.
He acknowledges that reform is going to occur and wants to make sure his members are looked after.
“If hotels are to lose the monopoly on Sunday trading, then it’s simply a question of what is the compensatory factor the government is considering,” Mr Woods said.
Mr Freemantle said his committee recognised that the main reason for the Liquor Act was to minimise community harm, yet that didn’t stop it proposing reform.
“We felt that a more liberal approach would have a better effect, strangely enough, in terms of harm minimisation,” he said.
In particular, the committee was keen to encourage an environment for liquor consumption that was more relaxed, flexible and conducive to less harmful outcomes.
Some of the key reforms proposed by the committee include the intro-duction of a broad public interest test to assess applications for liquor licences.
It wants an easier test for small taverns or wine bars that cater for less than 80 people.
It believes this would support a move away from large drinking establishments and encourage creativity and innovation.
The committee wants liquor stores to be allowed to trade on Sundays, mainly on equity grounds.
“Hotel bottle shops are open and selling liquor on Sundays, why are we discriminating against anyone else who wants to sell it?” Mr Fremantle asked rhetorically.
Restaurants and cafes would be clear winners, since they would be given more freedom to sell alcohol without a meal.
Membership-based clubs would benefit from reforms that would give them more scope to host events and accept people from other clubs, though the reforms do not go as far at the clubs would have liked.
Reform supporters include Perth Convention Exhibition Centre chief executive Paul D’Arcy, who would like to see a more vibrant environment for business tourists
“The ability for them to eat and drink, in a way they want to and at a time they want to, is important,” Mr D’Arcy said.
Tourism Council chief executive Ron Buckey said he “very strongly” supports the proposed reforms, which he sees as one element in making WA a more attractive destination.
The Liberal opposition has also indicated support for reform.
Last week it said the rules governing member-based clubs should be eased even more than the Freemantle committee had proposed.
Presently, clubs can apply for four ‘extended trading permits’. The committee proposed that clubs should be able to apply for 12 ETPs per year.
The Liberal’s spokesman for liquor licensing, John McGrath, has gone a step further, saying licensed clubs should be given an ongoing ETP so they can host bona fide local community and sporting groups and events.
He believes the clubs will continue to focus mainly on serving their members and therefore the change would have minimal impact on hotels.
“We think the clubs will be responsible in the way they respond to this and if they aren’t the director-general will be able to take their licence off them,” Mr McGrath said.
Mr McGrath was non-committal on the Liberals’ stance on other reform proposals, and he is clearly wary of upsetting the powerful hotel lobby.
“There is a mood for change out there in the community, but we have to remember hoteliers bought their licences in a regulated market,” he said.