Lee Rhiannon. Greens MLC

Many people in this State are keen to see a shift in drinking culture. We hope that it will allow for greater diversity in drinking venues, and alternatives to beer barns, which foster violence and alienation and where all too often poker machines dominate.

Ms LEE RHIANNON [5.36 p.m.]: New South Wales clearly needs a shift in drinking culture. Alcohol-related violence is escalating, trading hours for pubs are getting longer, the responsible service of alcohol is largely absent, and live music too often has been replaced by the whir and beep of poker machines. Many Greens members have said to me time and again that they do not want to go out to beer barns and or pokie halls. They ask why there is not an alternative. Many people in this State are keen to see a shift in drinking culture. In his agreement in principle speech on this bill the Minister for Gaming and Racing, Mr Graham West, claimed that this package of bills is a complete rewriting of New South Wales liquor licensing laws.

With these bills the Government had the opportunity for change to rein in the power of the pubs and clubs industry. Unfortunately, this package of bills is a missed opportunity. Potentially the bill allows for the loosening of the stranglehold the big players in the pubs and clubs industry have had on the opening of new venues in New South Wales. It allows for a category of smaller bars and offers the potential for a new style of drinking venue in New South Wales. The Greens strongly support this move. We hope that it will allow for greater diversity in drinking venues, and alternatives to beer barns, which foster violence and alienation and where all too often poker machines dominate.

To really shift the drinking culture in New South Wales we need, in addition to expanding opportunities for smaller bars to open, to wind back the beer barns and pokie halls and extended trading hours, which have been handed out like lollies by this Government in return for generous political party donations. Otherwise, we risk the unchecked proliferation of liquor outlets in New South Wales and an associated level of harm to the community. I will be moving amendments in Committee that I hope will serve to finesse the new laws to make sure that New South Wales has genuine small bars.

The amendments will limit small bar patronage to 120 people, restrict the number of small bar licences any person can hold to 10, and provide for a review of the impact of these new laws. Minister West has gone to great lengths to emphasise that this bill removes red tape, that it increases flexibility, that it decreases cost for industry and government and cuts down on formality. The problem with this mantra of deregulation is how this sits with the aim of properly regulating alcohol. That is the challenge before us.

I must say that when I hear about the Government removing red tape and increasing flexibility, alarm bells were set off for me. The Labor Government has sacrificed many areas of social policy on the altar of so-called efficiency and deregulation and in the name of the unquestioned so-called wisdom of modern government, but should that be the highest priority when it comes to alcohol? Restricting liquor licences abuts national competition policy, but how the two relate must be the subject of proper community debate. When legislation is rushed through, such as on this occasion, that cannot be achieved.

The best liquor laws in the world will fail if this administration allows a major proliferation of outlets and extended trading hours and persists in its failure to listen to genuine community concerns. The success or failure of the liquor laws provided in the bill will turn on how they are administered and enforced. That is a big unknown. The history of the liquor industry in New South Wales suggests that the interests of pubs and clubs may prevail over the community and over public health. The latest research on this issue by the New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research shows that much of the enforcement activity associated with existing New South Wales liquor laws focuses on patrons—not owners, managers or staff of licensed venues.

When action has been taken against a licensee, manager or secretary of licensed premises, it has been mostly for technical breaches of liquor laws, such as failing to display a licence or a prescribed sign. Dr Don Weatherburn urges stricter enforcement of liquor licensing laws. He regards that as critically important if we want to reduce levels of alcohol-related crime and violence. With the existing scheme it is very difficult to achieve changes in liquor licences, such as reduced trading hours, or to have licences revoked. The community has had to take matters before the Liquor Administration Board and produce evidence with police support. Sometimes residents are forced to collect data. Even complaints hotlines association with pubs are not necessarily staffed.

Much of the implementation of these laws remains a mystery to members of the House. We have been told that regulations will follow. The regulations associated with this bill will be expensive and will have a huge impact on how the bill is implemented, as will resources directed toward policing, enforcing and prosecuting venues. The Greens urge the Government, when administering these laws through the Casino, Liquor and Gaming Authority and the Director of Liquor and Gaming, to do the right thing by the community and tighten the reins on an already bloated industry. The bill leaves the door open for the continued expansion of liquor outlets. It in no way reins in the power of the Australian Hotels Association and the pubs and clubs industry. They will continue to apply pressure to get what they want.

We know that Mr John Forbes, the head of the Australian Hotels Association, has been to Parliament seeking to shore up a legislative and administrative framework that will suit his members. The pubs and clubs industry are some of the goliaths of the donations game, having given hefty donations to both Labor and Opposition parties. Between 1998 and 2005, New South Wales Labor received more than $2.9 million in donations from hotels, and $750,496 from the Australian Hotels Association. During that period, the New South Wales Coalition received more than $1.3 million combined. Electoral Commission figures recently released show another generous handover of donations from the industry to Labor in the lead-up to the March 2007 election.

Since Labor came to power in 1995, the Government, with the support of the Coalition, has changed laws in a way that suits the industry. The number of hotels opening 24 hours a day has ballooned. At the same time concessions have been granted with regard to the total ban on smoking in clubs and pubs. In 1997 the former Premier, Mr Bob Carr, gifted poker machines to hotels, radically enriching the profits of those hotels. Labor, with the support of the Coalition, also has changed laws to allow hotels to buy gaming machines from other hotels. We should remember all of the changes that have been passed by Parliament that have favoured the gaming industry, and the hotel and club industry, and that they occurred at the same time that donations to Labor and the Coalition continuously increased until they reached millions of dollars.

Alcohol is not benign. It is a dangerous drug when misused. The negative impact of alcohol was spelled out in detail to the Government during the Alcohol Summit in 2003. We need to remind ourselves that alcohol causes addiction, binge drinking, chronic disease and other health problems. It results in an enormous amount of related crime, road accidents and deaths, violence including assaults, suicides, injuries and drownings. All of that comes at considerable social and economic cost to the community. New South Wales Police alone spends at least $50 million a year responding to alcohol-related crime, according to Dr Don Weatherburn of the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research. According to research compiled by the New South Wales Parliamentary Library, alcohol is responsible for 47 per cent of assaults, 37 per cent and 18 per cent respectively of all road injuries involving males and females, 16 per cent of cases of child abuse, 12 per cent of male suicides and 8 per cent respectively of female suicides, 44 per cent of injuries resulting from fire, 34 per cent of drowning incidents, and 34 per cent of injuries sustained as a result of a fall. These are significant and tragic statistics. They drive home the point that the Government cannot afford to ignore the enormity of problems caused by alcohol.

The Greens support the objects outlined in clause 3 of the Liquor Bill 2007, in particular, the emphasis on harm minimisation, the need to encourage responsible attitudes toward the promotion, sale, supply, service and consumption of alcohol, and the attempts to ensure that the sale, supply and consumption of liquor contributes to the amenity of community life. We particularly support the provisions that aim to contribute to the development of the live music and entertainment industry. The objects of the Act have been tailored to acknowledge the importance of the live music industry. A new on-premises liquor licence will be created for public entertainment venues. Processes for managing noise and disturbance complaints have been modified to take into account the need to support musicians and the live music scene. The capacity for young people under the age of 18 to perform and earn an income alongside established professionals in licensed premises is also a win for live music in this State.

The Greens support maintaining existing provisions for the responsible service of alcohol, harm minimisation and increased maximum fines for venues repeatedly caught supplying alcohol to miners and intoxicated patrons. We note that the responsible service of alcohol seems to be the exception rather than the rule, and that much more needs to be done to ensure it actually occurs. The Greens welcome the new power for the Director of Liquor and Gaming to order lockouts that will allow patrons who are already inside a venue to stay, but will prevent entry by new patrons. This will address the problem of queuing and lingering in streets—a recipe for alcohol-related violence. We also support new powers to ban products that promote irresponsible, rapid, excessive drinking, and requirements for venues to keep incident registers when they have extended trading hours. The bill allows for the creation of binding liquor accords. I note that the 2003 Alcohol Summit recommended that liquor accords be mandatory. It is disappointing that the Government has not chosen to adopt that model.

The bill reduces 23 complex and restricted categories of licensed to six categories. In particular, a general bar licence will be created that we hope will facilitate the opening of smaller boutique bars. The licence will be granted in a way that is less restrictive; it will be more flexible and more affordable. The licence fee will be reduced to $500 rather than the current $2,000 followed by an annual fee of $2,500 and a complex social impact assessment process that can cost approximately $50,000. In an ideal world, this will open the door for smaller, low-impact bars to civilise the drinking scene in New South Wales and provide some alternatives. The Greens believe that facilitating the increase in small bars is a step in the right direction. We congratulate the Government on responding to the community campaign.

I congratulate all the people involved in the community campaign, Raising the Bar, which certainly showed a lot of campaigners in this city how to get a message across. However, the Greens are concerned that the devil is in the detail and that the cracks in this bill will become obvious when it is implemented. For example, it is not obvious that there is no small bar category. The general bar licence opens the door for any side liquor outlet to open. I will move amendments to restrict the number of patrons to such an outlet to 120 in line with the provisions applying in Western Australia and the original bill introduced by the member for Sydney, Clove Moore, in the lower House.

This is necessary otherwise we will end up getting big bars by stealth. The Greens are concerned that the bill may lead to a rampant flourishing of new liquor outlets. There is an intuitive relationship between the availability of alcohol and its consumption. Likewise, there is a clear relationship between the consumption of alcohol and harm. With rare exceptions, the more available alcohol is the more it is consumed, and the more it is consumed the more harm is caused to the individual, to the people around the individual and to society.

That might sound like an argument against small bars but I believe we must look much deeper. Dr Alex Wodak speaks of nuances in availability. The more dangerous venues have a high volume of alcohol and low profit margins—the beer barns. Costs are cut, alcohol is cheap, there are cut-price attractions, the seating is uncomfortable, the music pretty loud and there is little fresh air circulating. There is a high staff turnover, incidents of violence and the only food on hand is often salty nibbles—a recipe for increasing thirst. The atmosphere is so unattractive that people turn up, down a few drinks and leave—or down a few more drinks. The better model that Dr Wodak explains is low-volume, high-profit-margin venues. These are smaller places that are well ventilated, with good food available.

I foreshadow that I will move amendments in Committee to limit the capacity for big franchises or a concentration of ownership to flourish by ensuring that no applicant can hold more than 10 small bar licences. The Greens are concerned about Westfield, Woolworths, Coles, other business giants and the Property Council of Australia jumping on board and using the new laws to grow their businesses and their profits. We must ask: Are we going to see small bars, or maybe even large bars, run by big franchises throughout our shopping centres and on our main streets? Is this what people wanted when they campaigned for small bars? I believe the Greens amendments will help guard against this development.

The Greens support the shift in this bill to take liquor licensing out of the courts and introduce an administrative-based system. Liquor licence applications and disciplinary matters will be considered by the new Casino, Liquor and Gaming Control Authority. Removing licensing issues from the lawyer-heavy Liquor Licensing Court is a step forward. Exorbitant lawyers' fees associated with appearances in court were a significant barrier to smaller operators establishing small bars and to community members having their say. Under the new model, residents and local councils can make submissions directly to the authority, which will be able to conduct interviews and meetings to help stakeholders put forward their views. A less adversarial, more inquisitorial approach has the potential to better pick up on submissions from councils and residents.

My office has also received reports that the Liquor Licensing Court was not operating on a level playing field. Lawyers have made lots of money and many hotels have been granted extended trading hours but the public interest has often been squeezed out. Local councils have often fought hard for their residents, trying to reduce extended trading hours and limit the operations of pubs because of noise and other disturbances. These councils are often lobbied by residents and are keen to act on their concerns but they have had little joy in the court. Yesterday I met with Genia McCaffery, the Mayor of North Sydney and head of the Local Government and Shires Associations. She said that in her experience councils usually lose in noise complaints cases. She said that she knew of only one case that her council had won, and that involved a bar proposal in an area of Kirribilli that was surrounded by residential complexes.

The bill does not change standard hotel and liquor store trading hours even though extended trading hours have become institutionalised in New South Wales. Extended trading hours are bad news for densely populated city areas. Residents can be severely affected and the proportion of alcohol-related crime escalates late at night. Recent research by the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research reveals that the longer licensed premises are allowed to trade, the higher the level of violent incidents. A study by the National Drug Research Institute shows that extending trading hours by an hour or two increases by 70 per cent the number of assaults in and around licensed premises. The research also holds that hotels that already have high levels of alcohol-related problems are the ones most likely to seek later trading hours.

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh announced recently that licensed premises in Queensland would return to 10.00 a.m. to midnight trading, slashing their trading hours. That contrasts starkly with the provisions in the bill, which retains existing trading hours and allows for their extension. Late-night trading venues have a massive cumulative impact. There are many 24-hour venues in this State—in fact, more than anywhere else in Australia. Again, the devil will be in the detail. The Casino, Liquor and Gaming Control Authority Bill 2007 expands the role of the existing Casino Control Authority. Given the authority's lack of teeth when dealing with problem gambling, I fear that the prospects for the new body may be grim. The Casino Control Authority does not have a strong culture of cracking down on Star City Casino. Is there any reason for thinking that the new authority will do a better job on liquor issues? The Government must resource the authority adequately and direct it to act in the community interest, with a view to minimising alcohol-related harm.

We need proper consultation with the local communities that will bear the brunt of liquor outlets. We need an expert assessment of their likely impact before final decisions are made. Alcohol causes harm. This is a most serious matter, but the licensing process should not continue to be a barrier to new players entering the market. The bill introduces new community impact statements to replace the old social impact assessments. Statements will be prepared before liquor licence applications are made and will summarise the results of consultation with local councils, police, health agencies, Aboriginal representatives, community organisations and the public. This is meant to be less costly and time consuming, and also more targeted. The problem is that all the detail about how the process will work is in the regulations. For example, we are told that advertising requirements for applications will be practical and provide reasonable notice. That is hardly an enlightening direction. How widely will the application be advertised? Where will it be advertised? Will it be sufficient to let community members know about the application?

The Minister for Gaming and Racing provides that the community impact statement process will relieve applicants from having to obtain large amounts of data and prepare complex and costly assessments so that they can focus on consultation with local communities. How will the Government ensure that this occurs while also making sure that consultation is thorough and expert and that the decisions made reflect consideration of community impact statement findings? Will the statements guard against unreasonable clustering of outlets, which can have a big impact on local neighbourhoods and contribute to drunkenness, noise and property damage? Local neighbourhoods can benefit from the operation of small bars but they can also bear the brunt if more and more liquor outlets open. Residents, and local councils on their behalf, should have a real and meaningful say in the granting of liquor licences that will directly affect their lives.

I thank Raise the Bar and the thousands of people who came out in support of the small bars campaign. Through Raise the Bar almost 8,000 people came out in support of the campaign, signing and circulating petitions, sending electronic drinks to members of Parliament, starting Facebook groups and harnessing other incredibly innovative ideas. I understand that on Monday, Raise the Bar was successful in organising many telephone calls to politicians urging them to support the bill. That is a great campaign. It is a way of giving the community a voice and ensuring that politicians hear a cross-section of views. Specifically, I congratulate John Wardle, the Musicians Union and the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance on their excellent campaigning in the interests of live music. The Greens hope that their efforts will not be wasted and that liquor laws will be administered in New South Wales in a way that reduces alcohol-related harm and that regulates properly our big drinking culture.