Pub Patrons Milked

Illawarra Mercury

Friday October 17, 2008

Pub patrons milked

The police commissioner's solution to amend the hotel opening hours to reduce the drunken and violent behaviour, which affects our community every weekend, is a right one.

Hotel owners jump up and down and say it won't work. That is contrary to the experience in Newcastle, where it has significantly reduced those incidents.

The hotel owners have a clear, vested interest transparent to everyone except themselves - empty the patrons' pockets, throw them out into the street, then drive back to their homes far from the inebriated crowd.

It's time the publicans took their responsibilities seriously and stopped serving alcohol to the already intoxicated.

As for the argument that hotels provide security to control patron behaviour - that needs to extend beyond harassing patrons to leave at closing time.

Gerard Breslin, Unanderra.

Hotels flouting law

As I submitted in an earlier letter the stake holders in alcohol sales would defend to the end unrestricted hours for hotel trading.

Both the South Coast secretary treasurer and NSW chief executive of the Australian Hotels Association are digging in and putting forward the usual "it is not our fault" and blame-shifting on the growing problem of alcohol-driven violence.

I think it is a timely reminder that it is illegal for them to have drunken people in hotel bars.

Every person behind the bar has (or should have) an RSA certificate earned by attendance of a registered trainer.

There is no excuse for turning a blind eye on the law.

I suggest that if hoteliers and club owners cannot identify a drunken customer, they should not be in the business.

It is refreshing to see our politicians at last recognising the problem after many cries for help from the police commissioner. Hopefully they will finally act and also give the commissioner the resources needed to police the RSA laws.

Arthur Fowler, Austinmer.

Hollow promises

It is good and well for the Federal Government to guarantee deposits with financial institutions, but the community needs to be appraised of the workings of such a guarantee.

For example, if your bank becomes insolvent and it does not have funds to guarantee that depositors will get their money back, then supposedly the Federal Government guarantee can be activated?

If you have $50,000 in deposits with that bank, you may within six months to a year get about 5 per cent of that money back from the Federal Government guarantee.

It could take at least another 5 years or more before you get most of your money back.

The guarantee does not stipulate when you will get your money back.

People still need to be cautious about where they deposit their money and to spread it out among financial institutions.

Rick Palamara, Figtree.

Bailouts handy solution

I find it somewhat amusing, if not perplexing, that the very same economists, politicians and captains of industry who a few short months ago would have told us that an outbreak of socialism would be the ruin of us all, have so gratefully accepted government bailouts of their banks and other financial institutions as their salvation.

Perhaps we should try the same approach, pre-emptively, with our health and education systems by directing greater resources to our public hospitals and schools.

How would a fairer and more sustainable society be the ruin of us all?

Of None, Berry.

© 2008 Illawarra Mercury

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