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Speaker 1: As we know, the Northern Territory Police have served a

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Speaker 1: notice of suspension on two licensed premises, both located on

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Speaker 1: Todd Street in Alice Springs. They say the decision follows

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Speaker 1: a serious incident involving writers conduct by patrons of the

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Speaker 1: premises on early Sunday morning on Todd Street.

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Speaker 2: Now joining me on the line to talk a little

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Speaker 2: bit more.

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Speaker 1: About this is the ce of hospitality here in the

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Speaker 1: Northern Territory.

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Speaker 2: Alex Spruce, Good morning to you, Alex.

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Speaker 3: Good morning Katie.

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Speaker 2: Alex.

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Speaker 1: What is your understanding from hospitalities perspective as to exactly

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Speaker 1: what's gone on with the notice of suspension on these

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Speaker 1: two licensed premises.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, look, we've had a look at the letters that

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Speaker 3: have been served on the two venues. We've also been

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Speaker 3: in contact with both of them. They've reviewed their CCTV

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Speaker 3: footage and confirmed that there were no incidences at all

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Speaker 3: inside the venues. They've had licensing regularly going down there,

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Speaker 3: and we're going through the venues one and gave it

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Speaker 3: a clean bill of health. You know, it's show weekend,

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Speaker 3: there's a lot of people in town, so everyone does

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Speaker 3: maintain vigilance and on this one, Katie, we've got to

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Speaker 3: be honest, we think they've overshot the runway.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, right, But I mean, I suppose the police commissioner

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Speaker 1: had said, I'm sure you heard earlier in the morning

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Speaker 1: when we spoke to him that, you know, i'd sort

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Speaker 1: of asked, was it a situation where people would be like,

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Speaker 1: we're responsible service of alcohol or where people were being

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Speaker 1: served while intoxicated?

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Speaker 2: I think was what i'd asked. I mean, is that

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Speaker 2: what's happened here?

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Speaker 3: And yet where we checked with the regulator or the

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Speaker 3: licensee did this morning and got a clean bill of health.

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Speaker 3: They're very happy there are no ongoing RSA issues that

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Speaker 3: have been identified. So you know, we don't want to

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Speaker 3: get into a tit for tat with with anyone on this.

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Speaker 3: All we're saying is we don't like this power. We

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Speaker 3: don't think there's enough opportunity for licensees to have a

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Speaker 3: bit of due process and natural justice. We can much

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Speaker 3: prefer if they didn't thing wrong in our network. You

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Speaker 3: take us to the liquor commission that the party involved

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Speaker 3: gets to have their say and their views on what

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Speaker 3: hasn't happened, and then a decisions taken that often has

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Speaker 3: you know, penalties and fines and changes to licensed trading

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Speaker 3: hours as an example. You know, that's our process, it's

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Speaker 3: above board. Some of this stuff just smacks of cheap politicization.

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Speaker 1: So Alex, from your perspective, based on the discussions that

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Speaker 1: you've had with those two venues, you you aren't concerned

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Speaker 1: that you know that they've done anything untoward here.

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Speaker 3: We're deeply concerned that every time Alice Springs gets in

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Speaker 3: the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. Yep, this is

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Speaker 3: a go to. It happens every time to us. And

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Speaker 3: then when cooler heads prevail and we look at the

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Speaker 3: CCTV and we actually discuss what's gone on or what

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Speaker 3: hasn't gone on, we really don't think this is the

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Speaker 3: appropriate use of this power at all.

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Speaker 2: So Alex, what do you want to see happen today?

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Speaker 1: Oh?

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Speaker 3: Well, you know, ideally the police have the power to say,

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Speaker 3: you know, we got this one wrong, cop it on

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Speaker 3: the chin and rescind the note it's halfway through. But

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Speaker 3: you know, realistically, we'll will they swallow that much? I

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Speaker 3: doubt it. We'll be writing to the Chief Minister and

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Speaker 3: the leader of the Opposition. We had discussed this issue

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Speaker 3: with them both in previous correspondents leading into the election.

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Speaker 3: We really do think this power needs to be looked

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Speaker 3: at as soon as Parliament gets back together.

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Speaker 1: I suppose to play Devil's advocate here, Alex. You know

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Speaker 1: there'll be some people listening who are going, well, hang

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Speaker 1: on a sec. You know, everybody else has got to

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Speaker 1: be locked down between ten pm and six am.

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Speaker 2: You know, is it really is it really.

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Speaker 1: That difficult if these two venues have to be closed

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Speaker 1: for forty eight hours?

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Speaker 3: It's more what have they done wrong? Katie? And what

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Speaker 3: happened to being able to be You know, some of

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Speaker 3: us territorians get treated with absolute kid gloves. We know

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Speaker 3: that never to blame, and yet venues, businesses, territories that

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Speaker 3: are just doing the right thing we get card with

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Speaker 3: all these universal approaches, these heavy handed tactics. You know,

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Speaker 3: it's just not right. We bust people into Alice Springs,

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Speaker 3: we give the money for show weekend, the town goes

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Speaker 3: bunter and yet low and behold, you're going to blame

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Speaker 3: the venues yet again?

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Speaker 2: Hey, Alex, can.

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Speaker 1: I ask you, like on a more broader sort of

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Speaker 1: scale when you talk about the you know, what's going

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Speaker 1: on now in Alice in terms of people not being

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Speaker 1: able to go out sort of after ten pm?

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Speaker 2: Is that guy?

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Speaker 1: Like, what kind of impact will that have on hospitality businesses,

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Speaker 1: particularly if it ends up being extended.

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Speaker 3: Look, I know some of our venues down there were

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Speaker 3: very supportive of the previous curfew in addition to the

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Speaker 3: police resourcing down there that didn't seem to calm the

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Speaker 3: town down a few months ago. Where we're open to

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Speaker 3: curfews where they're deemed appropriate, and we do appreciate that

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Speaker 3: there's the exemption for you know, fast food and if

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Speaker 3: you're heading in there for a legitimate reason, you know,

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Speaker 3: realistically commencing at ten o'clock at night, all of our

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Speaker 3: food services are largely closed by them. So we don't

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Speaker 3: think it's too onerous if this is the short reprieve

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Speaker 3: that everyone in equal measure had to cop But then

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Speaker 3: to just roll out your dead toddally our two licenses

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Speaker 3: to line up and publicly execute, we just don't think

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Speaker 3: that's right or necessary.

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Speaker 1: Toady. Look, how are those two licenses? And you know,

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Speaker 1: the managers, the operators sort of feeling this morning.

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Speaker 3: It's a kick in the guts, especially when you've been

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Speaker 3: given a clean bill of health by the regulator of

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Speaker 3: the night before. You know, you are left scratching your head.

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Speaker 3: And it's not just them, it's the rest of our industry.

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Speaker 3: We have seen this inappropriately used in Alice Springs before,

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Speaker 3: in fact, the last time all lives were on Alice

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Speaker 3: Springs and again, as I say, once we sit down

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Speaker 3: and we go through it, it's an absolute abuse of power.

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Speaker 3: That is what's going on in the Teen territory right now,

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Speaker 3: and all we seem to be doing is lurching from

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Speaker 3: crisis to crisis, putting band aids upon band aids. We've

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Speaker 3: got to get serious about this stuff one way or another.

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Speaker 1: Katie Well, Alex Bruce, I always appreciate your time. Thank

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Speaker 1: you very much for having a chat with us this morning.

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Speaker 1: And you know I'll be like, I'll be interested to

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Speaker 1: see what goes on here. I know, as I said earlier,

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Speaker 1: I know some people listening will be going, well, do

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Speaker 1: you know what you know, it's it's all.

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Speaker 2: Part of it.

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Speaker 1: I suppose seventy two hours sort of lockdown. And you know,

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Speaker 1: some may have no issues with the two venues being

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Speaker 1: suspended for forty eight hours, but as you know, from

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Speaker 1: what you're saying, you know a lot of people, quite

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Speaker 1: supportive obviously of the lockdown measures, but probably a bit worried.

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Speaker 1: I'm guessing some of those venues might be a bit

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Speaker 1: worried what it potentially means for them in the future.

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Speaker 3: Absolutely, and you know, we echo the mayor's comments. You know,

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Speaker 3: if this originated on the lawns out the front of

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Speaker 3: them all there on the Council Street or whatever, that's

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Speaker 3: the issue. The lack of police there to attend, that's

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Speaker 3: the issue. They're just clutching at straws looking for other

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Speaker 3: people to blame.

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Speaker 1: Well, Alex Bruce, appreciate your time this morning. Thank you

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Speaker 1: so much for having a chat with us.

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Speaker 3: Chis Katie all the best.

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Speaker 2: Thank you,