Statutes Amendment (Budget 2011) Bill

This speech is to make a few remarks in relation to the liquor licensing aspect of the Statutes Amendment (Budget 2011) Bill.

Adjourned debate on second reading. (Continued from 6 July 2011.)

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (15:42): I will make a few remarks in relation to the liquor licensing aspect of this particular bill (it being the companion to the Appropriation Bill which we are debating at the same time). I just point out to honourable members and readers of Hansard that this initiative, if it can be called that, is really just another way for the government to put a tax on licensees, and was rather sneakily put into this particular bill, rather than have it as part of other liquor licensing 'reforms'. The government, being aware that the opposition has honoured the convention that it does not block budgetary measures, has therefore placed it into this particular piece of legislation.

I would like to have the government provide to us an update on what the status of that is, and whether they have an indicative level of what the different fees are. We have been advised that there will be different levels of fees for licensees, and that smaller licensees will have fairly minimal fees which, to me, indicates that, given the government is raising some quantum of several million dollars from this measure, larger licensees will therefore have larger annual fees. So, I would like a reasonable thorough update on what the status is in terms of timing of how those negotiations are going, and if we can get some indication of what those fees are for the different licence classes.