NT Government rushes headlong into trouble on proposed liquor shop law changes
THE NT government’s move to pass urgent changes to the Liquor Act in a bid to fast-track a decision on four contested grog shops seems to have caused more problems than anticipated.
Opinion
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THE NT government’s move to pass urgent changes to the Liquor Act in a bid to fast-track a decision on four contested grog shops seems to have caused more problems than anticipated.
This week has been a shocker for government frontbenchers, particularly Small Business Minister Paul Kirby and Health Minister Natasha Fyles, as they attempt to duck and weave from the obvious rift this legislation has caused internally.
Mr Kirby, going on the offensive at a press conference this week, refused to say if Woolworths and Coles could be considered small businesses (they are not).
Seemingly cracking under pressure, he also curiously referred to himself as the “Business Minister”.
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The government’s public stance is that changes to the Liquor Act are to provide certainty to four grog shop applications that live in the grey area between two editions of the law.
How the “Small Business Minister” came to be the one who put the changes forward is perplexing, considering two of the four grog shop applications involve Australia’s biggest supermarket companies.
Meanwhile, Ms Fyles has been at pains to assert her record on alcohol policy reform as she puts out the inevitable spot fires that have erupted among the health stakeholders that she has to work with.
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It’s unlikely that the decisions, due on December 20, will mark the last that is heard of these law changes.
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