Years Serving the SA Hotel Industry
From the President DAVID BASHEER – AHA|SA PRESIDENT
Need for Certainty LICENSING WARS
SHUTDOWN UNCERTAINTY
Last year the AHA|SA spent almost $40,000 on legal costs, close to 10 times the previous year.
We have seen it all before. The WA Government shut down a city of two million people over two COVID-19 cases. Even worse, when the economy reopened, the pubs could only have 20 people in their venues.
With the new Licensing Act in its first full year in 2020, the AHA|SA Council made the bold decision to protect members businesses and hotel valuations by engaging in potential test cases, principally involving packaged liquor. This is an issue that effects a huge cross section of our membership, both large and small, metro and regional. Our office possesses an impressive arsenal of legal knowledge but due to the nature of the cases, external advice was necessary. First we had to blunt Aldi’s ambitions to circumvent the law to sell their own home brands, and now to deal with the extensive ambitions of the chains. The new licensing Act absorbed a significant amount of time and resources as we sought to ensure its interpretation did not threaten the long term viability of our industry. With so many test cases, there is a strong belief that judgements made today will have long term impacts on the future direction of licensing in South Australia. Along with preparation for a proposed Government review into the expansion of small bars into the suburbs and the late-night code, licensing looms as a key issue for the AHA|SA in the second half of this year. 4 | Hotel SA | W W W . A H A S A . A S N . A U
Hospitality continues to carry a disproportionate burden every time there is a COVID-19 scare. Every mainland State has learnt this the hard way. It is why the AHA|SA late last year commissioned a study by the University of Adelaide’s SA Centre of Economic studies into the financial consequences of the snap November lockdown. This report was sent to all politicians and key COVID-19 decision makers. The independent study reported a $100m statewide loss in revenue, a 79% fall in employment during the period and a $7 to $10 million wastage of perishables. Those findings were widely reported in the media, both locally and nationally. This study provides the AHA|SA with independent economic data as a reference point, citing a respected voice and fact-based evidence of the disaster reaped by these snap lockdowns. Any fair-minded person would have to concede that if a business is so heavily affected by forced public health declarations that occur with no warning, then affected venues must be compensated. Governments will say it is too costly. Perhaps if they had to partner in the financial burden, these snap lockdowns may not be so widespread. Back to Contents
