LIQUOR LICENSING LAWS LUDICROUS: MIRABELLA

23-September-2009

There is increasing community outrage over the Victorian Labor Government’s new liquor licensing laws as new evidence has arisen that sexually explicit venues located in Melbourne’s CBD won’t be charged as much as traditional pubs and breweries in North-East Victoria.

Sophie Mirabella MP, Federal Member for Indi has labelled the Victorian Government’s new fee system as “ludicrous”.

“The Victorian Government has introduced a new fee structure based on the perceived ‘risk factor’ of venues around the state that serve alcohol,”

“I fail to see how a strip club in King Street Melbourne can be ‘less risky’ than a country pub or brewery located in North-East Victoria, yet this is how the Government sees it,” Mrs Mirabella said.

The Victorian Government has created a new fee structure which fails to take into account the type of venue and is instead based on the type of licence. The Government has taken into account venue size and trading hours in an attempt to gauge the ‘risk factor’ of violence occurring.

“The Victorian Government’s flawed fee model and poorly classified licence database are what has led to the inequities,”

“Instead of admitting that they have made a mistake and rectifying the inequities, the Government has instead told publicans to reduce their patron capacity or change their trading hours to avoid the fees,” Mrs Mirabella said.

Licensed venues already go through an extensive application process in order to receive their liquor licence.

“It is completely unacceptable for the Government to expect local venues to change their trading hours to avoid an unfair tax when they have already undergone strict evaluations,” Mrs Mirabella said.

The new fee model was introduced by the Government in response to increasing instances of alcohol-related violence.

“While there are still unfortunate instances of alcohol-fuelled violence in local venues, they do not compare to the reports of violence in and around Melbourne nightclubs,”

“The majority of local venues serve alcohol responsibly, they should not be punished for the problems that are happening in the city where venues have been allowed to open in close vicinity of each other, can trade until early hours of the morning and have grown too big,” Mrs Mirabella concluded.

Media Enquiries: Felicity Wilkinson (03)5721 5377