A review of laws designed to crack down on misbehaving pubs and clubs is being kept under wraps by the NSW government, despite Parliament being asked to consider significant changes and an extract being provided to a Sydney hotel baron.
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A bill introduced by Racing Minister Paul Toole winds back key aspects of the "three strikes" law under which pubs face the loss of their licence for serious breaches under the Liquor Act. For clubs, the ultimate penalty is the removal of a licensee.
The changes before Parliament include removing the automatic nature of a first strike for a breach as well as reducing the types of breaches attracting a strike.
As well, while presently a strike remains in place for three years, the bill allows a venue's licensee to appeal to the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority after six months to have it removed for good behaviour.
Mr Toole has said the changes ensured the scheme targeted more serious liquor law breaches and the six-month review mechanism would encourage licensees to operate responsibly.
They follow a review of the three strikes regime by former High Court judge Ian Callinan that was done in parallel with his statutory review of the controversial 1am lockout and 3am last drinks laws.
But while Mr Callinan's review of the lockout and last drinks laws was released by the government in September last year - resulting in a trial easing of the restrictions - Mr Toole has not released the three strikes review.
Despite this, the government will ask MPs to vote on the changes to the three strikes law as early as this week.
The proposed changes also mean a strike will be attached to a venue's licensee instead of the venue itself, after lobbying from the hotels industry that complained it was causing banks to revalue their businesses.
In November, Fairfax Media revealed that prominent Sydney publican Arthur Laundy was handed a confidential excerpt from Mr Callinan's three strikes review, which his lawyers then used to fight a push by the Director of Public Prosecutions to impose a "strike" on The Steyne hotel at Manly.
The excerpt, which contains a case study of The Steyne, was given to the NSW branch of the Australian Hotels Association by counsel assisting the review, Jonathan Horton, QC, after a formal application and handed to Mr Laundy.
Mr Laundy was unsuccessful in his appeal and The Steyne was given a strike and fined $5700 for serving alcohol to underage girls.
On Monday, Mr Toole said Mr Callinan's review "advised that there were problems with the current scheme".
"The government's immediate reforms are firmly targeted at addressing these problems to improve the overall effectiveness of the scheme," he said.
