The recently-elected chair of the Orange Liquor Accord, Mark Murphy, wants to see increased cooperation and communication between all groups in the alcohol industry in the city.
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"When the accords first started in Sydney the members worked closely with police and councils on issues like drink-driving," he said.
"The plan will be to work with as many groups here to make sure we're all pushing the same message."
Mr Murphy purchased the Metropolitan Hotel and adjacent Town Square Motel on Anson Street three years ago.
"Born and bred in hotels", Mr Murphy has been in the pub business most of his life.
The plan will be to work with as many groups here to make sure we're all pushing the same message
- Mark Murphy
His family ran the Balgownie Hotel north of Wollongong in the 1960s and his parents moved south to take over the Mount Kembla Village Hotel when he was a young boy. They had the Toxteth Hotel in Glebe for 30 years and the Woolloomooloo Bay Hotel after that.
Mr Murphy has traveled Australia's east coast as a publican, managing pubs from Sydney to Airlie Beach.
With a resume "eight pages long", he said he's now settled in Orange and was looking forward to taking the lead at the liquor accord for at least 12 months.
He said "pushing the same message" applied on both sides of the bar.
"It's about the responsible service of alcohol, but also encouraging patrons to think about 'how am I going to get home?' safely."
Mr Murphy pointed to the Waratahs minibus, the taxi service arranged through the Orange Ex-Services' Club, and winery tour buses as initiatives to build on.
"If we can expand that and encourage people to get into mini buses that's a positive thing," he said.
With Orange's entertainment landscape changing to include longer trading hours for venues, which includes an occasional 3:30am close at The Lord Anson Hotel, Mr Murphy said the role of the liquor accord will change too.
He said he hopes membership will expand beyond pubs and clubs, to reflect an increase in cafes and other venues now holding liquor licences.
"It would be good to get involvement from the wineries too," he said.
"We've got to all work together for the betterment of the community."
The Orange Liquor Accord is a voluntary agreement between licensees, police, Orange City Council and the Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing to help prevent alcohol-related anti-social behaviour.
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