IN VAIN: A push to crack down on alcohol- related violence in Orange by adopting elements of the Newcastle model could be in vain because Orange licensed venues already impose tougher restrictions.
ORANGE licensed venues already impose tougher restrictions than those in Newcastle.
A push to crack down on alcohol- related violence in Orange by adopting elements of the Newcastle model could be in vain because licensees in Orange do not serve drinks containing more than five per cent alcohol late at night, a restriction not imposed in Newcastle yet all other elements such as no shots, no shooters and no slammers are adopted.
In Newcastle a person may be served a shot until 10pm. In Orange shots are not served any time.
In April, Orange City Council director of community and cultural services Scott Maunder plans to head to Newcastle to get a firsthand view on how the model could work here.
Pioneer of the model Tony Brown said he was impressed with the restrictions in Orange and surprised by how stringent the measures were.
He said the only element missing from the Orange model was that the restrictions are not mandatory.
In Orange all conditions except a 1.30am lockout are self imposed by venues. The lockout was court imposed in 1999.
“What Orange is doing is impressive but it needs to be mandatory because as soon as the heat gets too tough they can just pull out,” he said.
“There shouldn’t be this mantra of individual responsibility anymore.
“It shouldn’t be up to the individual, it should be up to the government.”
Mr Brown said lockouts were ineffective and the only method to reduce alcohol consumption and reduce violence was to reduce availability by forcing pubs to close early.
Mr Brown is calling on governments to force the closure of pubs who make it onto the NSW most violent list. In Orange, the Royal Hotel and the Hotel Orange have appeared on the list.
Royal Hotel licensee Tony McClure said once a hotel appeared on the state’s violent list they could have the number of instances looked at by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research and often incidents against the pub were removed.
Mr McClure said shutting down a pub would only move the problems elsewhere.