HOTEL HOURS

Evening Star, Issue 26028, 17 February 1947, Page 7

HOTEL HOURS

THE NEW SOUTH WALES REFERENDUM OVERWHELMING VOTE FOR 6 O’CLOCK CLOSING ? ' SYDNEY, February 16. The liquor hours referendum m New South vVales resulted in an' overwhelming vote against any extension of liquor trading Hours. Progress voting showed that l there will be a' majority for 6 p.m. as against 10 p.m. closing of nearly two to one. When counting closed at midnight last night the voting totals were: 6 p.m., 920,734: 9 p.m., 22,345; 10 p.m., 518,861, The only electorates in which late closing held a majority were Woolahra, King’s Cross, liusheutter’s Bay, and Cobar, in the far west.

One of the surprises in the refer : endum was the strong country vote for early closing. Liquor trade interests were confident that country electorates would show a large majority for the late hour, but in most cases the vote was strongly the other way. Electorate officers admitted that a great majority of the 900,000 women who recorded votes favoured 6 p.m. Many men admitted that they voted that way also in protest against brewery ownership of most hotels in New South Wales.

The State Electoral Officer/ Mr E. Bennets, said that it might be 10 years before the people of New South .Wales had another opportunity 1 to change hotel hours.

The count is not yet complete, •as there are 1,836,258 people on the rolls, and voting was compulsory, but the position cannot be changed, as supporters of early closing in the votes counted number more than half of the total.