Queensland lockout laws secure support from crossbench MPs
PREMIER Annastacia Palaszczuk has secured support for her much-vaunted lockout laws. Now it’s payback time, and she’s been told to “bring her chequebook”.
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QUEENSLANDERS will no longer be able to buy a drink after 3am – unless they are in a casino – from July 1, with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk securing a deal to shepherd her lockout laws to victory.
In a major coup for a Premier negotiating a hung parliament, Ms Palaszczuk secured a deal with the two Katter’s Australian Party MPs, Robbie Katter and Shane Knuth, to pass the laws.
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The laws – designed to stamp out alcohol-fuelled violence – were passed in State Parliament in the early hours of Thursday morning with Mr Knuth and Mr Katter’s support.
In exchange for their vote, the laws will be staggered to give the state’s 15 nightclub precincts more time to adjust to the looming 1am lockout.
An existing $8 million pool of funding will also be used to help businesses cope with the changes.
Ms Palaszczuk and her senior ministers will also travel to Mount Isa and Charters Towers to hold a jobs-focused Cabinet subcommittee as part of a pledge to do more to address the 15.1 per cent unemployment rate in Outback Queensland, with Mr Katter warning Ms Palaszczuk to “bring her cheque book”.
From July 1, pubs and clubs outside nightclub precincts must cease serving alcohol after 2am, while those inside nightclub precincts can serve drinks until 3am.
The sale of shots will be banned after midnight. Closing times will remain unaffected. The 1am lockout will not come in until February 1 next year.
The laws will also be independently reviewed in July 2018 to ensure they are working.
Ms Palaszczuk announced the deal yesterday morning flanked by Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath and surgeon-turned-minister Anthony Lynham, who entered Parliament to bring in the legislation.
It was the culmination of late night meetings at State Parliament on Tuesday night with the Government delaying the debate until they got the pair over the line.
“With the support of Shane Knuth and Robbie Katter these laws will go through,” Ms Palaszczuk said yesterday.
“This means that we will curb the amount of alcohol-fuelled violence across Queensland and I thank them for showing their faith and confidence in my Government’s laws.”
Mr Knuth and Mr Katter also secured a commitment from the Government to ban those caught selling or possessing drugs in entertainment precincts from those areas.
Mental health funding to address suicide rates in regional Queensland will also be prioritised in the coming Budget as part of the deal, while the Government has promised to focus on unemployment in their electorates.
“Politics can be a compromise,” Mr Katter said.
“We have been able to reach a position that we feel satisfies a lot of those issues that are important to us.
“If you really want to address social issues you need to take a much broader approach; the rest of Queensland simply can’t be left behind. This is part of a statewide conversation, this is not us being parochial.”
Mr Katter and Mr Knuth denied they had let down concerned north Queensland businesses by backing the laws.
“We have listened to each side of the argument and have continued an open dialogue. This is the conclusion we reached,” Mr Knuth said.
Ms D’Ath said the changes related to drug-offender-banning orders would not be introduced until she had consulted with the industry.
She also revealed the Government had decided against banning all bottle shops from selling alcohol past 10pm, as recommended by Labor MPs on the committee that reviewed the laws – for now.
New bottle shops will not be able to trade past 10pm, however, under the laws.
The LNP and Independent MP Billy Gordon maintained their opposition to the laws last night.
Opposition justice and attorney-general spokesman Ian Walker slammed Labor and the KAP for dealing behind closed doors, and described the changes implemented as “convoluted”.
“It’s been an unhappy way to formulate policy on the run,” he said. “We believe the evidence is not sufficient.”
He also took issue with the Government’s decision to delay mandatory ID scanning and to exempt casinos.
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