By Andy Young

The NSW Liquor Amendment (Reviews) Bill, which was passed by the State Parliament last week, will see strikes recorded against licensed venues removed.

The changes to the laws will see strikes now recorded against the licensee rather than the venue, as The Shout reported earlier this week.

Minister Paul Toole said it would be “impractical” for the previous strikes to remain in place when moving forward with the new scheme as it would mean that two different schemes would be in place at the same time.

Arthur Laundy, whose hotel The Steyne in Manly received a strike, told TheShout that he felt “vindicated in as much as right from the start I have said that I don’t believe this is a fair rule”.

“I’ve said it right from the start, the government got it right with the clubs, but they didn’t get it right with the hotels,” Laundy said. As I explained to someone yesterday who was struggling to understand the issue: you own a trucking company and you employ drivers, if a driver goes out and has a serious accident, who should get the penalty? The driver of the truck, or the owner of the truck? He said, good analogy, I understand.”

He added: “I own the hotel, but I’m not at the hotel. I’m not the licensee. I’ve never considered it was a fair rule. I’ve argued now for some years on exactly that line. People have called me this morning to say it was a good victory, and I’ve said it was fair. I don’t think I asked for anything that was unfair.”

Read more here.

This story first appeared in The Shout.