Caxton Hotel given go-ahead to push back ID scanning on night of Wallabies v Springboks game

AN iconic Brisbane hotel will still be able to push back mandatory ID scanning to 11.30pm, following a Court of Appeal decision, but it will be for one night only.

AN iconic Brisbane hotel will still be able to push back mandatory ID scanning to 11.30pm on the night of the Wallabies and Springboks match next month, after a Court of Appeal decision.

The Caxton Hotel, near Suncorp Stadium, was initially refused an application to push back ID scanning from 10pm until 11.30pm, to avoid massive post-game queues.

But the hotel, in a safe night precinct, successfully appealed against the Commissioner for Liquor and Gaming’s refusal in Queensland Administrative Appeals Tribunal last month.

The Caxton won the right to delay ID scanning on the nights of the State of Origin clash on July 11 and the Wallabies and South Africa rugby union clash at Suncorp Stadium on September 8.

Alex Farquhar, General Manager at The Caxton Hotel, with the QikID ID Scanner. Picture: Image AAP/Steve Pohlner

The Commissioner then appealed the tribunal on three grounds in the Court of Appeal.

Three appeal court judges unanimously dismissed the Commissioner’s appeal today.

QCAT had made its decision on the day before last month’s State of Origin match.

Photographic and other evidence showed that on days, such as an SOG match, Caxton St was closed to vehicles from Petrie Tce, in the direction of the stadium, past the Caxton Hotel.

After the event, spectators leaving Suncorp Stadium streamed up Caxton St towards Petrie Tce, across the footpath and road, the tribunal was told.

At the same time, patrons trying to enter the Caxton Hotel lined up from the entrance, where their ID is scanned, across the footpath and road.

The outcome was a conflict in pedestrian traffic movements between the stationary line of patrons waiting to enter the hotel and spectators leaving the stadium and walking up the street.

The tribunal member said there was a conflict between the licensee’s obligation to maintain a safe environment in and around its premises and its ID scanning obligations.

In the Court of Appeal decision, Justice David Jackson said the Commissioner could only appeal on a question of law, but did not confine itself to that in its appeal submissions.

The Commissioner submitted that the integrity of the ID scanning system was undermined by the tribunal decision regarding the Caxton Hotel.

Justice Jackson said that was “an overreach”.

He said the decision was only about one particular location outside a single regulated premises in relation to particular events at a stadium.

The evidence showed that between July 1, last year, and March 31, this year, 50,787 people had ID scanned at the Caxton Hotel.

Of those, only six people had been detected as being subject to court or police banning notices.

Justice Jackson said there was no evidence before the tribunal that other regulated premises produced a queue of patrons stretching across the street in a similar way to the Caxton.

The tribunal member’s decision referred to the rivalries between States that could be quite intense among SOG spectators, possibly causing heightened tensions.

Justice Jackson said to make such a finding was not an error of law.

The Court of Appeal ordered the Commissioner pay the cost of Farquhar Corporation Pty Ltd, trading as Caxton Hotel.