The Press SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1961. Licensing Laws

Press, Volume C, Issue 29674, 18 November 1961, Page 10

The Press SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1961. Licensing Laws

Although changed considerably in detail, the Licensing Amendment Bill returned from the Statutes Revision Committee to the House of Representatives with its

principles intact The committee was expected to examine with special care proposals for greatly extended powers for the Licensing Control Commission, and the chief alterations concern these proposals. The original bill abolished licensing committees and passed many of their important powers to the Licensing Control Commission. The amended bill retains licensing committees. with members elected by local bodies within the constituent area of each licensing committee. This maintains a desirable element of local knowledge and interest in licensing control while avoiding the wasteful and unsatisfactory polls that have unfortunately occurred with a full adult franchise Additional curtailments in the authority proposed originally for the commission include provision for appeals to the Supreme Court against certain of its decisions and provision that inspectors

are to be servants not of the commission but of the Justice Department. These changes appear reasonable, but in examining them Parliament should be concerned to ensure that the authority of the commission as the chief executive agent of licensing reform has not been unduly impaired. The principle of taverns paying a higher licence fee than hotels has been retained. The House should support this important innovation, which would equitably divide the financial responsibility for providing accommodation over the whole of the licensed trade. Care will have to be taken, however, to ensure that the licensed trader interests do not suffer ftom the competition of chartered clubs that do not provide accommodation. The proposals in the bill as amended are. of course, preliminary to the wider reforms expected in the “ complete re-enactment of the licensing laws ” that the Government expects to have ready for next session. The House may well feel that, with a trial period ahead, the present reforms can be adopted with little hesitation.