Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Hospitality NT CEO Alex Bruce explains changes to the banned drinker register

Transcript

Hospitality NT CEO Alex Bruce explains changes to the banned drinker register · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: We know that some changes to the BDR were indeed
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: announced yesterday in an effort to streamline technology and minimize
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: the time that it takes to scan your license. So
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: what impact are these changes going to have? Well, Alex Bruce,
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: the CEO of Hospitality, joins me on the line. Now,
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: good morning to you, Alex.
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: Good morning Katie, Alex.
• 0:19
  Speaker 3: Why were these changes needed?
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: The technology behind the BDR, separate to the policy settings
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: of it, is archaic, slow decade old stuff clapped out constantly.
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: Venues are getting frustrated where there's scratched scanning equipment anyway,
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: So regardless of what the policy settings are around it,
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: it definitely did need a new tech upgrade and that's
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: what the government's rolling out.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: Well, and it's something you and I had spoken about
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: I reckon on a few different occasions. Alex, the opposition
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: leader was just asking, is the new equipment going to
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: enable the new drivers' licenses to be scanned proper?
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: We hope. So we got the opportunity to play around
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: with one of the ones in an office environment a
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: few weeks ago, and we thought the next stage was
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: going to be a pilot in some venues to actually
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: really put it through its paces for a week and
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: test it, and we do want to reserve and hold
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: back our judgment until there have been those real world
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: tests done in our venues and we get the A
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: or n A from them. But I had a quick
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: play around with some sample licenses, new ones, old ones,
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: passport scratched up ones, and yeah, it seems to perform
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: a lot better and a lot quicker than what's currently
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: out there.
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: And so is it a pilot trial or is it
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: a bang we're getting out there?
• 1:41
  Speaker 3: We're rolling these out everywhere now.
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: Ah, they're rolling them out. They said that though a
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: chief full roll out by November. We confirmed that yesterday
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: following the announcement, but there isn't a single one out
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: there currently, so we're hoping to start seeing them in
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: our venues from or bottle shops from the end of
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: this week onwards. And it relies on good telephone coverage,
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: so there'll still be really remote places that will just
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: be using the clapped out old systems, but this one's
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: a good solution for anyway where they've got that good
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: four G coverage.
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: Yeah, right, So, Alex, from your perspective and from the
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: perspective of venues or take away outlets around the territory.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: Has the feedback been quite positive?
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: It will be in terms of the technology. You're right,
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: and the leader of the oppositions right in some of
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: the stats that you were discussing of listening to that interview,
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: you know, the red screen the rejected sale is zero
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: point zero zero zero six five as a proportion of
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: our scans and sales. So of course we want a
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: system that can be as quick and user friendly as possible.
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: Whether the BDR or the policy is effective or not,
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: you have to look around the streets and the crime
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: and the antisocial behavior, and you'd really have to scratch
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: your head and say, is it really worth it?
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: Well, this is.
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: The thing that a lot of people are questioning at
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: the moment. I've got people messaging as we speak talking
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: about the minimum floor price as well and talking about
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: some of the other policies.
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: Again.
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: You know, you and I have spoken in the past
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: about whether some changes could be made to the BDR
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: to make it more effective. I mean, where do you
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: think that the hospitality sort of fits into this discussion.
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: We think the BDR should be improved or scrapped. That's
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: been our standard position in terms of the policy, but
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: it is good that the text being upgraded, and by
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: that we mean, you know, we've even got a Liquor
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: Condmission decision of early last year which found that people
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: in Tennant Creek were being treated like second class citizens.
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: You could buy a cart and a beer, or you
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: could buy two bottles of wine, but you couldn't buy
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: a six pack of beer and a bottle of wine.
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: They agreed with the community let and championed by the
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: mayor down there, that they wanted that flexibility of choice
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: still within the quantity limit that the Liquor Commission thought appropriate.
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: And they've received word from Licensing MT that that's not
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: going to be upgraded. It's too expensive to fix the system.
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: So you know, this kind of malarchy is still going on.
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: You mentioned the flaw price that was due for a
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: three year review October last year. We know the report
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: sitting with government somewhere a year on now. We'd like
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: to see it tabled. We think it should be scrapped.
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: We think it's an unnecessary impact on customers.
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: Alex.
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: We always get a couple of messages come through whenever
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: you and I speak about these types of things, and
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: people say, well, are all of those takeaway out let's
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: doing the right thing and making sure that they're not
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: serving people who are intoxicated or who are going to
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: do the wrong thing.
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: What's your response to.
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: That, Well, you've got the most scrutiny on our bottle
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: shops in the country, in the Northern Territory, and there'll
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: always be the old issue highlighted. And we never stand
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: in front and defend bad behavior. And yes, there are
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: plenty of tools that police and the liquor Commission have
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: to throw the absolute book at our venues. Often what
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: happens is an honest mistake will be slipped up. But yeah,
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: you know, blind Freddy will tell you that further focusing
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: on legal sales as a way to solve the antisocial
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: and illegal behavior. You know, where's the offense for public drinking?
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: Bring that back? I mean, how long do we have
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: to keep bashing our head against a brick wall and
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: be told that the people that are causing the trouble
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: it's got nothing to do with them, that everyone else
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: in the community props some more regulation, red tape and
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: anti freedom in your life. Get it up here.
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: Hey, let me ask you a pretty controversial decision made
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: yesterday around the pokes in Alice Springs. The Racing, Gaming
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: and Licensing Minister Chancey Paig on Monday said that applications
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: the applications of course for sixty extra poker machines at
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: four venues was suspended until June twenty twenty three.
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: What was your reaction to that decision.
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: We would have liked to have seen the process run
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: its course, and you know, we didn't know which way
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: those applications were going to go, whether they were going
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: to be accepted and approved or rejected. It's fair to
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: say there are a lot of submissions raised on some
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: of those applications down in Alice Springs. So we think
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: that the current framework was robust enough to deal with that,
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: and there's a bit of a preemptive strike that's happened
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: and it just increases our business uncertainty. When you stroke
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: of a pen, they can change the goalposts. How are
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: we really going to attract investment, be it at the
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: Baloo or down in Alice Springs into tourism and hospitality.
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: What has that decision or what do you think that
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: that decision is going to mean to the company which
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: has indeed bought those venues in Alice that they were
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: planned to go into.
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: It's too soon to say, but the reality is you've
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: seen it in the new bill part around Darwin or
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: the refurbed ones. When they expand, you know, you get
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: a better offering, better food, better accommodation if they've got
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: hotel rooms attached, and and and gaming and investment in
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: game and is part of that that underpins that whole
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: business proposition. So yeah, we want rules based, we want
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: independent decision making at arms lamps from political interference, and
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: we want to know what the rules are as the
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: community do and go through the process. We don't like
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: this stuff where they just throw the baby out with
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: the bath water.
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: Alex, there was obviously, you know, there was controversy in
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: Alice or there was certainly you know, some people that
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: were saying that they were concerned that you know, that
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: it could increase antisocial behavior in the region.
• 7:45
  Speaker 3: Do you think that it would.
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: Look I just think that there was a process to
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: assess all of that community impact. A lot of people
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: made submissions, and those submissions are basically just been put
• 7:59
  Speaker 2: on Ice. The government's come in over the top of it,
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: So who knows which way it would have gone. I
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: think the rate of change in Alice Springs, it's fair
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: to say was impacting what was going on. But I
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: do think it is a big strange because if some
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: of those pubs that have all been acquired by one
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: entity were all running individually, history suggests that they probably
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: could have done modest upgrade into their full venue and
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: received very little backlash from the community.
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: Hey, Alex, just very quickly before I let you go,
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: I know that the hospitality industry is sort of rallying around.
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: I think you'd have to say right now to save
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: a popular bar worker who is looking as though he's
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: going to be deported despite the fact that we have
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: got a real workers shortage here in the Northern Territory.
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: Bangladesh born student. He's known as Labib. I'm not even
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: going to attempt to pronounce his whole name because I
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: will probably get it wrong. But he is indeed seeking
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: that last minute lifeline from the federal government. Alex, how
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: likely do you think that la Bib is to being
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: able to stay in the territory.
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: Unfortunately, it's not looking good. And you know we have
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: rally behind Labib and highlighted his case. But his case
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: is one of many, many, many we've been saying goodbye
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: to good people. They'd had emergency four eight visas for
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: the last two years, they've been working. Everyone knows there's
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: workforce shortages and since the regime change in Canberra, they
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: didn't extend any of those. So we would have liked
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: to have seen a pathway for those people that have
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: been on the roller coaster of COVID with us over
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: the last two and a half years into permanent residency
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: or a better pathway to stay. And instead, you know,
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: we're hearing this nine hundred thousand in a visa processing backlog.
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: It was inherited by the current mob from the previous
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: federal government. They dropped the ball massively, but you know,
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: we want to see more rubber hitting the road. There's
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: big talk fest in Canberra on all this stuff, but
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: the reality is we're still saying goodbye to good people.
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: So well, look, we'll.
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: Talk some more about it a little bit later this morning.
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: Alex Bruce, CEO of Hospitality here in the territory, always
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: appreciate your time.
• 10:09
  Speaker 3: Thanks for having a chat with us today.
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: Jeers Katie, Thank you