Proposed Liquorland could pop up in booze-free Palmerston site under new laws passed by NT government

Controversial new grog shop licensing rules rushed through by the NT government could result in a contested bottle shop going ahead in Palmerston.

CONTROVERSIAL new grog shop licensing rules rushed through by the NT government to fast-track decision making for the proposed Dan Murphy’s superstore could result in a contested bottle shop going ahead in Palmerston.

The NT Labor government on Tuesday revealed it would be making urgent changes to the Liquor Act that would effectively circumvent the independent Liquor Commission’s rulings and result in a decision, once and for all, on the future of two longstanding grog shop applications, including Dan Murphy’s.

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But in an eleventh hour move, the government reworded a section of the urgent laws so that two other historical matters that were currently before NTCAT could be considered under the changes.

The NT News can reveal these matters include an application by Liquorland Pty Ltd to set up shop at Oasis Palmerston Shopping Centre that had been opposed by NT Police and the Palmerston Council and struck down by the Commission in July.

The other application was for a proposed takeaway alcohol outlet in Durack that was knocked back by the Commission in October.

The Oasis Shopping Centre in Palmerston, where Liquorland wants to open a store.

The Commission, in striking down the Liquorland application to transfer a licence from a defunct grog shop in Berrimah to Oasis Palmerston, found it was “highly likely” that granting the application would “result in the Oasis Shopping Village once again becoming a “hot spot” for anti-social behaviour and also create risks to “public order and safety””.

There is an existing Liquorland 300 metres from the proposed Oasis Palmerston site.

Under urgent law changes passed in parliament on Thursday night, the fate of the four grog shop applications will be decided by the Director of Liquor Licensing.

Armed with sweeping new powers, the Director Liquor Licensing must hand down a decision within 30 days and isn’t required to consider community impact, despite having the authority to allow the applicants to move where they want the store to go and vary conditions on the licence.

During fiery detailed parliamentary debate about the laws, Small Business Minister Paul Kirby confirmed there is no requirement for the director to publicly release the reasons behind the their decisions.

The decisions can be taken to the Supreme Court.

The laws also remove the requirement for “natural justice”, or in other words, procedural fairness.

Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro. Picture: Che Chorley

Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro, in parliament last night, described removing this “fundamental part of our entire legal system” as an “extraordinary step” that was “so rare”.

“Natural justice is about right of reply, fairness, having a fair hearing, a fair opportunity. Why did the government feel it was so necessary to remove the rules of natural justice from this provision, particularly given we are dealing with such a small number of applicants?” she said.

Chair of the NT’s Liquor Commission Richard Coates told ABC Darwin that he and other members of the 15-person board had considered resigning over the government’s move to override the commission’s decision.

“I think some of the commissioners — using Mr Gunner’s parlance — feel the reform bill has been a ‘kick in the guts’ to the hard work they’ve done administering this complex legislative regime, which is the Northern Territory’s new Liquor Act,” he said.