Dan Murphys returns to NTCAT after month long adjournment

THE Dan Murphy’s bid to launch in Darwin resumes at NTCAT on Friday

THE Dan Murphy’s bid to launch in Darwin resumes at the NTCAT on Friday.

It is expected NTCAT will confirm dates for the next hearing, timelines for when evidence and responses need to be filed, and dates for the formal hearing.

The case was originally due to be held on July 28, but was adjourned due to border restrictions placed on NSW that kept several key characters out of the Territory, and to allow further gathering of evidence.

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The Northern Territory election result would give Endeavour Drinks confidence in their bid, given Chief Minister Michael Gunner and Attorney-General Natasha Fyles have already gone in to bat for the liquor merchants.

In December last year, Mr Gunner pledged the store would go ahead, despite rules then being in place prohibiting new liquor licences.

The act was then amended in February, specifically allowing liquor licence holders to transfer their licence to a venue that hadn’t been built yet, as Endeavour Drinks intended to do with the licence from an old Stuart Park BWS to the proposed store in Eaton.

At the time, Ms Fyles said the bill — which also removes a requirement that there be no significant change in the operation of the business when a licence is transferred — was proof the government had “done the hard yards in alcohol policy”.

“By removing the like for like requirement, it will allow businesses to grow in a reasonable and responsible way,” she said.

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“All substitution of premises’ applications must still satisfy the public interest test, they must still have a community impact test — the same test that new liquor licences have. This is considered a safeguard that finds the balance for a business to be able to move premises.”

The case was originally set to be appealed through the Supreme Court before it was withdrawn by Dan Murphy’s in April after the rule change.

The transferral of a licence is key to the application, with the applicant hoping to secure transfer from the former BWS store.