Early boozing laws for Dockers may change

WA Police Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan wants to clamp down on a “historical” liquor licensing quirk allowing Fremantle pubs to serve liquor from 7am, but admits it is too late to bring in changes before Saturday’s AFL grand final celebrations.

Fremantle watering holes including Benny’s Bar & Cafe, The Left Bank and the Sail and Anchor, are set to open from 7am or 8am under little-used entitlements associated with the port city’s liquor licensing regime.

While some licensees have vowed to open early but not serve alcohol before 11am, Mr O’Callaghan said he did not have much confidence in liquor sellers to regulate themselves properly and predicted many would cave in to requests for booze early.

He said Fremantle licensees’ ability to open from 6am until midnight was “a historical thing to do with people who work at the Fremantle Port being able to access alcohol after they come off shift”.

Standing room only inside and outside a Fremantle pub during the Preliminary Final.

“We have had similar arrangements in other parts of the State like Kalgoorlie, but I think it’s time for a review of that," Mr O’Callaghan said.

“We need to change the culture of drinking in WA, particularly the binge drinking. We need to send the right message to the community and I don’t think, for argument’s sake, opening at 7am on any day is a very responsible thing to do from the licensees’ perspective.”

But Police Minister Liza Harvey said she trusted licensees to use the weekend as an “opportunity to show how well they can manage their premises”.

“And I think that people of Fremantle will take this as an opportunity to say you can give us a little bit of leeway around special events and we will do the right thing and I encourage people to do that,” she said.

Mrs Harvey said any changes to Fremantle’s liquor licensing regime would be made between the Director of Liquor Licensing and the Minister for Racing, Gaming and Liquor after due consideration.

But both the Minister and Commissioner appear to be misinformed about early morning trading privileges being particular to Fremantle.

Under the WA Liquor Control Act, the holder of any hotel licence is permitted to trade between 6am and midnight on any day other than Sunday.

Mr O'Callaghan told a Budget estimates hearing today that the first time he knew of the plan - which will allow football fans to down booze as breakfast - was when he saw it on the front page of The West Australian.

"We will be revisiting or visiting the trading hours in Fremantle after this matter," Mr O'Callaghan said.

His comments came as Fremantle City Council raised concerns about the early opening times and revealed it had asked hotels not to open before 11am.

WA is undergoing a review of the Liquor Control Act. Mr O'Callaghan is a vocal campaigner against excessive drinking and alcohol advertisements targeting young people.

He said he had not been consulted about the 7am opening hours by the Minister responsible for Racing, Gaming and Liquor, Terry Waldron, despite the move requiring substantial additional police resources in Fremantle.

But Deputy Commissioner Chris Dawson said the licensing laws that allowed such early boozing applied only to Fremantle and were a historical legacy to benefit wharfies, so pubs could simply opt to exercise their right to open.

Mr Dawson said the heavy police presence would include mounted police, dogs, air support and licence enforcement officers.

In a letter to The West Australian published today, Fremantle City Council's Economic Development and Marketing Manager Tom Griffiths said the council could not stop the pubs from opening early.

"Legally, under State Government law some Fremantle venues are able to open and serve alcohol from 7am," he wrote.

"We are not supportive of this and I have personally written to those venues to ask that they not do so until 11am. But I can only ask, we have now power to enforce. It is their legal right to do so.

"The one event that the city is organising this Saturday is strictly no alcohol. Antisocial behaviour will not be tolerated.

"Street drinking is an offence in Australia and anyone doing so is clearly breaking the law."

Source: The West Australian, 26 September 2013