Coronavirus: Melbourne pubs urge reopening for AFL grand final

As coronavirus numbers tumble, the hospitality industry is urging the Victorian Premier to allow businesses to reopen after 100 days of lockdown.

Alistair Carragher, with his dog Bozo, wants to open the doors to his Great Northern Hotel in Carlton North for next Saturday’s AFL grand final. Picture: Paul Jeffers

What could possibly be more lonesome than a pub with no beer?

How about a city with no open pubs on an AFL grand final day?

The previously unthinkable scenario is playing on the minds of embattled hoteliers across Melbourne — arguably the heartland of Australian football — who are desperate to reopen in time for what is, for some, the biggest day of trade for the year.

As coronavirus numbers fall to their lowest levels since early June, with just two new cases ­reported on Friday, the hospitality industry is urging the Victorian Premier to allow businesses to reopen after 100 days of lockdown.

“We’re not talking about flinging the doors wide open,” said Australian Hotels Association vice-president David Canny, “but for businesses to be permitted to operate in a COVIDSafe way”.

Metropolitan pubs, along with other hospitality businesses, have been limited to offering only takeaway since July 9, after stage-three restrictions were put in place. The impact has been dire for many, with a recent AHA Victoria survey finding that a substantial number of its 1450 members were struggling under mounting debts.

Hopes of reopening in mid-October, predominantly for outdoor service, emerged three weeks ago when it seemed that the state was getting on top of the virus. But they’ve since receded as daily new cases and the number of mystery cases continued to hover above the targets outlined in the government’s roadmap for easing restrictions.

On Friday, Premier Daniel Andrews reiterated that the next stage of easing would not go as far as previously expected, particularly in relation to business.

“It will not be everything that everyone wants because it’s not safe to take all of those steps,” he said. “But on Sunday I very much look forward to giving people a sense of what the coming weeks look like.

“And it is fair to say that if these numbers continue, then we are very well placed to be broadly in alignment with our foreshadowed stage three.”

Mr Canny said the association had expressed to the government the importance of allowing hotels to reopen. He said the industry had previously demonstrated that it was able to trade safely, implementing social-distancing policies and elevated hygiene measures, during the brief period it was open mid-year before Victoria’s second-wave outbreak.

The AHA has also recently provided member hotels with free access to digital technology for checking-in patrons using QR codes, which would help with rapid contact tracing in the event of exposure to the virus.

Mr Canny said he knew of no outbreaks linked to Victorian ­hotels. “Around the country, pubs have done very well trading safely in this new environment,” he said

“And that’s what we’re looking for in Victoria; for the government to allow businesses to just get on with it.”

The Great Northern Hotel in inner-city Carlton North, is usually filled to the brim every grand final day, as a throng of football fans gather to watch the match.

“It’s usually our biggest day of the year,” owner Alistair Carragher said. “We’ve had well over 100 ­inquiries about grand final day; I’ve had to tell people we’re no longer taking expressions of interest.”

Mr Carragher said that being able to open in time for next Saturday’s final would bring a welcome end to a “challenging” few months in which hotel revenues have slumped by up to 95 per cent.

“I’m certain that we can open and trade in a COVIDSafe way,” he said.

“I’m just not confident that Dan will let us.”