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Government Caves In On Liquor Licence Fee Charges The State Labor Government has caved in to enormous industry, public and political pressure and revised the liquor licence fees for sporting and community groups, Nationals Member for Morwell, Russell Northe said today. By Russell Northe - 19th October 2010 - Back to News "Sporting and community groups have been hit hard in the hip pocket by the massive increases in liquor licence fees following the Brumby Government’s botched reforms and so-called risk based fee structure.
"These groups will now benefit from changes to liquor licence fees with the introduction of fee discounts for eligible small clubs ahead of a full review of club licensing arrangements and fees in 2011.
"The effect of the Brumby Government’s ‘grab for cash’ has hurt many small community and sporting clubs.
"Small rural clubs are under enormous pressure and some clubs have been forced to relinquish their liquor licence because the small profits of alcohol sales do not cover the massive fee increases. Following a massive backlash the Brumby Government has now proposed the following changes;
• Clubs with restricted club or renewable limited licences with fewer than 100 members will be given a 50 per cent reduction on 2011 renewal fees;
• Clubs holding both a restricted club licence and a renewable limited licence will be eligible to apply for a discount of 50 per cent on each licence for the 2011 fee year;
• Where clubs require additional temporary limited licences they will be able to apply for one licence that authorises up to 12 separate activities or events in a year;
• Full club licensees wishing to move to a restricted club licence will have their variation fee waived. Clubs that make this transfer would reduce their 2011 renewal fee from $812.70 to $405.80 and save $174.70 on the variation fee.
In June this year bed and breakfasts, florists and giftmaker businesses who supply alcohol as an incidental part of their operations were given a reprieve with the removal of a yearly licence renewal fee.
Mr Northe said that the risk based licence fee structure was one of the most fundamentally flawed reforms brought in by the Brumby Labor Government.
"Many low volume places, such as takeaway outlets, have been harshly penalised by these so called reforms, forcing a number of businesses to downgrade trading hours or surrender their licenses completely.
"While sporting and community clubs will benefit from the interim measure of a 50 per cent reduction on 2011 renewal fees, the challenge remains for the government to fix the remaining flaws in the risk based licence fee structure.
Many regional businesses are struggling to cope with massive increases in fees such as liquor licence fees and the cost of the fire services levy, and it is about time the Brumby Government started to listen to the real concerns confronting many of these vital businesses.
"The Liberal-Nationals Coalition, in government, will review the risk based liquor licence fee structure and work toward implementing a more equitable system that does not unfairly penalise small liquor licensees in country Victoria."
Media: Russell Northe 0408 22 55 23 / Julia Auciello 5133 9088
Source: http://gippsland.com/ Published by: news@gippsland.com
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