The suite of rules,which force pubs and nightclubs to call last drinks at 3am and require patrons to have their IDs scanned on entry,is set to be expanded to give venues access to a list of all those banned for bad behaviour.
The Queen’s Wharf integrated casino and resort complex is expected to open progressively from mid-2023.Star
An independent review of the measures,which found a 52 per cent drop in assaults between 3am and 6am in the busy Fortitude Valley nightlife precinct,was handed to the government in early 2019 with almost 40 recommendations.
Stakeholder consultation on the recommendations,which included rolling casinos into the 3am alcohol trading cut-off and mandatory ID scanning,was protracted and the responses coloured by the pandemic’s impact on the hospitality sector.
In its final response to the report,tabled on Wednesday,the government said it could not support the inclusion of casinos in trading-hour restrictions or ID scanning because they already operate under a “higher level of scrutiny” than other licensed venues.
“The government also considers removal of 24-hour trading hours would be inconsistent with the government’s plans for creating a ‘new world city’ for Brisbane,the intent of the development of Queen’s Wharf,” it said.
The government also gave only partial support to a recommended ongoing independent evaluation of alcohol-related harm in the state,which would include an independent and publicly available “expert evaluation” of the opening of Queen’s Wharf.
This would not focus on the new casino alone,the government noted,but consider the effect of “all casinos” in Safe Night Precincts as part of legislated triennial reviews of nightlife areas.
The Queen’s Wharf integrated casino and resort complex,expected to open progressively from mid-2023, and questions about the integrity of eventual operator The Star Entertainment Group,raised by.
The state government began developing the alcohol-fuelled violence plan in 2016 after the death of 18-year-old Cole Miller in a one-punch attack in Fortitude Valley in the early morning of January 3.
“In July of that same year,we began passing new laws with greater controls on alcohol sales,especially in the early hours of the morning,” Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk told parliament on Wednesday morning.
Palaszczuk said the government’s response would be released alongside $500,000 in the latest grant round for Safe Night Precinct boards to help fund things like roving security services and taxi marshalls.
The government would also agree to a recommendation to make a list of those banned from a venue or precinct available to all venues,and to increase the initial minimum banning length from 10 days to up to one month.
The creation of a secure digital platform on which to distribute the lists and related law amendments meant this measure would likely not be in place before mid-2023.
The government also rejected recommendations to close all Safe Night Precinct venues at 3.30am and impose a two-year moratorium on most new liquor licences.
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