Cultural change from bizarre to buoyant: Perth transformed

Not very long ago, going out for a drink in Perth could be way more trouble than it was worth.

A city transformed: on the rooftop terrace at the Alex Hotel, Trish Arndt, left, with Sally Lovell, manager of Perth’s Shadow wine bar. Picture: Philip Gostelow

Not very long ago, going out for a drink in Perth could be way more trouble than it was worth.

Restaurants and cafes were ­licensed to sell only to people who were also buying a meal, meaning visitors from interstate were often bemused to discover they could have a glass of wine but only if they also bought an entree they would not eat or an ice cream that melted at the table.

Sally Lovell, who manages Perth’s Shadow wine bar, and Trish Arndt, who leases luxury ­accommodation to mostly ­inter­national clients, have watched Perth transformed by a proliferation of small bars over the past decade. Yesterday, they welcomed further liquor reforms ­announced by Premier Mark McGowan, while reminiscing about bizarre scenarios from the city’s peculiar past.

“There were certain establishments where you would say to the staff on arrival ­‘It is my intention to eat’ and they would take your drink order and then as you placed your second drink order, you had to say ‘It remains my ­intention to eat’,” Ms Arndt said.

Ms Lovell adds: “Yes and then eventually they would say something like ‘Oh now I must go, something’s come up’.”

Mr McGowan, who oversaw the introduction of the state’s first small bar licences as a minister in the Gallop Labor government, announced there was unfinished business when it came to smoothing the path for owners of “sophisticated venues” who wanted to sell alcohol. He said it was not about more bottleshops but about ­“creating a more vibrant city and new tourism and employment opportunities”.

Mr McGowan said he wanted a commonsense approach, pointing to the example of East Perth’s Whipper Snapper Distillery that was forced to sell whiskey neat — no mixers allowed — until his ­intervention.

Legislation this year will ­compel the department responsible for liquor licences to take into account what tourism and ­cultural bodies say when a ­business wants to sell ­liquor. The ­department will also have to give those opinions equal weight to the opinions of the executive ­director of public health and the WA Police, who invariably oppose ­liquor license ­applications.

“The liquor reforms I introduced as minister transformed Perth’s nightlife and created the vibrant small bar scene we enjoy today,” Mr McGowan said. “More importantly, it created new jobs in the tourism and ­hospitality industries. Under our plans, venues that deliver cultural and tourism value to the ­community within a safe environment will have a better chance of obtaining a liquor ­licence or amending a liquor ­licence.”

Ms Lovell says the trend away from large pubs to small licensed premises such as Shadow, which she has run for the past 18 months, has made a visible difference to the centre of Perth.

“It feels safer than it did 20 years ago — there are people everywhere and a great buzz about the place,” she said.