Government has moved with great haste to get the new Liquor Licence Amendment Act 1997 through the House of Assembly.

There is a good deal that is right with these amendments like the changes which we hope will benefit tourism by allowing liquor sales outdoors on licensed premises which should lead to the often promised sidewalk cafes.

The ban of the sale of miniatures from licensed grocery stores is also a constructive step since the majority of the miniatures sold were for immediate consumption and not for take home convenience. In any case, miniatures will still be available from liquor stores.

There seems to have been no attempt to address sales of cold beer and liquor which is almost inevitably consumed illegally in vehicles with the container winding up as roadside litter. Government has probably bowed to the pressures of the liquor lobby.

While the sections dealing with the service of alcohol to young people sound good they have not, as far as we can see, strengthened the law. Young people under 18 years of age are still allowed in night clubs if accompanied by a person over 21. That leaves us right where we are now. Young people will still be tempted to drink in night clubs and will be able to get liquor through service to the person of age who accompanies them.

The new amendments also give licence holders an out by saying it is a defence to believe or have reason to believe that a person served was over 18 years of age. It would have been so simple to follow the lead of Florida and require that licensed premises card anyone believed to be under the age of 30. No proof, no service. That prevents licence holders being able to say they thought someone was over 18.

Some things will alarm the public. Perhaps the major change is that hotels and restaurants now join nightclubs and will all be able to stay open until 3 a.m.

Hotels and restaurants will be able to start serving liquor at 9 a.m. That means 18 hours of the day every day of the year. Under the amendments, a liquor licence is no longer a public service and licensed premises can open and close as they see fit. Will they all close at once for the winter? Tour boats are now licensed at all times. That allows visitors licensed breakfast cruises but may be bad news for shoreline dwellers when the dance and booze cruises begin leaving the dock at midnight. Yet members clubs have hours for the first time, 10 a.m. to 3 a.m. which will stop them being after hours bars for all comers.

The Act takes power away from the Liquor Licensing Authority and virtually reduces the authority to a rubber stamp by providing that the Minister may give such directions as to the policy to be followed by the licensing authority as appear to the Minister to be in the public interest and says that the authority shall give effect to any such directions.

Once again we have politicians gathering power to themselves and a previously independent body new being subjected to the directions of a Cabinet Minister.

These amendments are a good start but we would rather have seen a much more comprehensive rewriting of the liquor licence laws. Once some amendments are made, basic laws tend not to be addressed again for years and these laws need to be comprehensively rewritten.