LIQUOR LAW REFORM

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23895, 24 August 1939, Page 12

LIQUOR LAW REFORM

AGITATION IN NEW SOUTH WALES EXTENSION OF TRADING HOURS 'Fbom Our Own Correspondent) SYDNEY, Aug. 14. The New South Wales Government is expected shortly to tackle the question of reforming the Liquor Act. Rank-and-file members of the Government parties have renewed strong demands for reform, and they are supported in this by a majority of the Cabinet. . The uncompromising attitude of the former Premier, Mr Stevens, prevented the queition being raised while he was leader. He had forbidden mention of it even in the privacy of the Cabinet room. Ministers formerly bound by this decision will take an early opportunity of raising the matter. The need for reform is expected to be pressed most strongly by the Minister for Justice, Mr Martin. The confusion in the present law offends his legal mind, and he is anxious to eliminate its numerous anomalies.

Until the war, hotels in the State traded from 6 a.m. to H p.m. A referendum in 1915 resulted in the closing hour being fixed at 6 p.m. Another referendum several years after the war confirmed the six-to-six trading period. For many years now there has been an agitation, supported by a fairly general and growing public desire, for reform. Even if the trading hours are not increased, there is widespread feeling that they should be spread over a different period—say, 10 a.m. to 10 Liquor law reform along this and other lines has been a live question in Government circles for some time. Ministers agree that there are many anomalies in the administration of the Liquor Act, particularly in the manner in which the law is flouted in both citv and country. It is known to Ministers that some leading hotels in Sydney sell liquor after trading hours without penalty, while smaller hotels are compelled to cease their activities at the usual closing hour. In the country, also, the practice of selling liquor after hours is widespread, and one argument submitted to Ministers, for an extension of trading hours, is that the present system encourages serious abuses. While some Ministers believe that trading hours should not be altered unless sanctioned by a referendum, other Ministers contend that Parliament should alter the liquor laws as goon as possible, even to the extent of permitting hotels to remain open until 8 or 9 p.m. Some Ministers say that it would be unwise to authorise a referendum on liquor hours before the next election, due in about two years. Their opposition to an early referendum is based not only on the estimated cost of £70,000, but also on the belief that more important questions need attention. While admitting the urgency of liquor lav/ reform," this section of the Cabinet suggests that it could be left in abeyance until the pressing problems of finance and employment are disposed of. The whole of the Cabinet is now immersed in the preparation of the Budget and its programme of legislation, and it is not likely that it will allow its attention to be diverted from those subjects to such a controversial one as the amendment of the liquor law. Another factor influencing postponement of this question is that the former Premier (Mr Stevens) and the Minister of Transport (Mr Bruxner) made it clear at the last election that no alteration would be made in the liquor trading hours unless the electors approved the change at a referendum. A section of the Cabinet, however, feels that even that pronouncement should not prevent the Government from introducing some changes to meet the wishes of a large number of people. Ministers who take the view that some change must be made in trading hours say that the country should not be put to the expense of a referendum, but that it should be left to Parliament to legislate. Although the Premier (Mr Mair) has not yet asked the Minister of Justice (Mr Martin) to report on the liquor law, and the question of its amendment, it is expected that such a report will be called for before the end of the year.