drama in parliament

Those of you who have followed the liquor debate may be interested in an extraordinary development that happened in the final moments as the bill was voted on in the Upper House..

On Wednesday night, the Coalition, Shooters Party, Christian Democrats and the Greens all supported amendments to the Bill, which came up quickly mid afternoon.

If you read the Hansard, they are on the record - one of which was to limit the capacity of the new bar licence without pokies to 120 patrons.
Certain parts of town had raised their desire to see this licence class limited, and with the Bill tabled in a hurry, there was not  agreat deal of time to investigate every reason why this was undesirable.

Sydney Musician John Wardle (The driving force behind the Entertainment Venue Liquor Licence in the Bill, and also recently outed by Miranda Devine as the strategist behind the "Raise the Bar" campaign) was extracted mid session from the otherwise empty Gallery to head upstairs and given the opportunity to negotiate on the Bill, which he then did - up and down stairs and lifts - including through a division on another Bill, and then into the gallery on the floor of the House under the watchful gaze of the sitting Members.

Not long after, there was the dinner break, where negotiations continued for the next hour and a half upstairs. At the comencement of the next session, OLGR Minister West met with the Opposition leader of the house Michael Gallacher outside the chamber.

Whilst we are not prepared to comment on what had eventually transpired across the last few hours, ultimately the numbers were not there to support the amendment.

A progressive and highly political bill was then passed without any amendments whatsoever, in a House where the Government did not always have the numbers. AMAZING!

After the Bill passed,  various people involved in the Liquor Bill 2007 then went out on the balcony outside Parliament, and congratulations were exchanged. It was a surreal moment, as a handful of people - alone on the balcony - had a quiet word about the last few hours, and the work involved in the development of the legislation.

Wardle then went back up into Parliament to George Souris' office  to shake hands and the acknowledge the Coalition after the vote, before heading out to celebrate.