Labor promises end to dry polls for Melbourne hotels, bars and clubs
Laws preventing pubs and bars from opening in Melbourne’s wealthy inner-east will be ditched if the Andrews government is re-elected in November.
A planning academic who recently published a book on the city's dry zones, though, says the laws – described by Labor as "archaic" on Monday – should only be removed the same way they were applied: by a local vote.
"If you think the dry zones are archaic, the thing to do is to have a local vote – these things weren’t imposed on anyone, they were voted in," said Elizabeth Taylor from RMIT, whose book Dry Zones has just been published.
Dry area rules for some of Melbourne's eastern suburbs date back to the 1920s temperance movement, and are still imposed on parts of the Whitehorse and Boorondara council areas.
The laws require residents to vote for a liquor license to be granted to a new restaurant or venue. Residents face fines if they fail to vote.
The laws were relaxed in 2015 to allow restaurants and cafes to apply for alcohol licenses without a local referendum.
But residents must still vote to accept or reject hotels, bars and clubs within the sober suburbs of Balwyn, Camberwell, Canterbury, Glen Iris, Box Hill, Mont Albert and Surrey Hills.
Liquor licenses have proliferated in the dry zone's booming restaurant strips.
The Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation says there are 143 restaurants and cafes with liquor licences in the dry zone, compared with just 42 in 2010.
In the three years to December 2017, the regulator said 53 liquor licences were granted. A further five are under application.
However, Premier Daniel Andrews has promised to remove the remaining restrictions if successful at the state election, which is now less than three weeks away.
“Melbourne’s local pubs, restaurants and bars are part of what makes our city great – this change is good news for our hospitality industry and great for jobs,” he said.
The Labor government promises it will bring these areas into line with the rest of the state.
Residents who fail to vote on liquor licenses are fined $74. In the past six years there have been 20 polls carried out by the Victorian Electoral Commission, costing Victorians about $500,000.
The promise comes after Mr Andrews visited a gin distillery on the weekend to announce support for locally made food, spirits and beer if re-elected.
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