Small Qld bars to get red tape relief but nightclub ID scanners to stay

Premier David Crisafulli wants to slash red tape for small Queensland bars, but says ID scanners will continue to be compulsory at some venues.

Queensland Opposition Leader David Crisafuli speaks in Queensland parliament. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Glenn Campbell

Premier David Crisafulli wants to slash red tape for small Queensland bars, saying they are choked by rules including compulsory ID scanners.

Mr Crisafulli made the comments on Friday at a Future Gold Coast lunch, where he was asked by The Courier-Mail editor Chris Jones about the impost of scanners on small venues and their patrons.

He ruled out scrapping ID scanners at nightclubs but said venues such as wine bars and speak-easies were over-regulated.

“My view is, where there’s low-impact venues, we should do all we can to help people make a living,” he said.

“I see some of those very small boutique bars and I see a whole heap of regulation and enforcement that bogs them down that they don’t need to and we should help them.

“It’s the smaller venues that I think we have overregulated and they’re the ones that I think where there’s an opportunity. They’re not venues where there’s high violence and high aggression.”

But the premier ruled out stripping back security measures in nightclubs.

“If you’re asking me whether or not I think it’s an impost to scan an ID before you go into a club, the answer is no – I think that’s fair and reasonable and you do see that in parts of the world,” he said.

Leader of the Opposition David Crisafulli pours a beer at Chute 1 pub, Longreach. Picture: Liam Kidston.

“There’s nothing wrong (with that) but as a parent of young teenagers who are going out, I have no drama with the knowledge that somebody can scan a license and if that is a person who shouldn’t be there, that’s what the rules exist for.”

Queensland Hotels Association CEO Bernie Hogan said Mr Hogan said the QHA had long railed against regulations on ID scanners, which did not have a uniform consistency.

“It’s a Swiss cheese model,” he said, referencing the fact that the regulations apply to some licensed venues, but not all.

“We are already an incredibly over-regulated industry, so we would totally support the scaling back of ID scanner regulations.”

Licensed venues in Queensland’s Safe Night Precincts that have approval to trade past midnight on a permanent basis have been required to use ID scanners after 10pm since 2017, having launched as part of the Palaszczuk Government’s strategy to tackle alcohol-fuelled violence.

The networked ID scanners cross-check a person’s details against a database of banned people.

The scanners faced early backlash from a number of those in the hospitality industry, with one venue owner previously telling The Courier-Mail the system slowed the flow of customers into his business

Originally published as Small Qld bars to get red tape relief but nightclub ID scanners to stay