Page 5342 - Week 12 - Thursday, 28 October 2010

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MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Attorney-General, Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Water, Minister for Energy and Minister for Police and Emergency Services) (5.29): The government will not be supporting this amendment. It is essential that licensees submit their RAMPs for consideration by the commissioner with their application packs before 30 November this year to enable the commissioner to determine the fees.

The commissioner needs to know the type of licence being sought and the trading hours to be able to determine the fee payable for the licence. Licensees who wish to trade past midnight to 2 am, 4 am or 5 am will need to pay the new risk-based licensing fees before they are issued with a liquor licence. Licensees who trade to midnight only will not be required to pay any additional risk-based fees.

This amendment does not have the same kind of effect as the amendment allowing more time to provide a police certificate. The RAMP is critical to assessing the risk posed to the community by a licensee and their establishment in the context of the new harm minimisation and community safety principles. It is the Assembly itself that has demanded commencement on 1 December. It needs to be considered carefully by the Office of Regulatory Services. It is the linchpin of the risk-based licensing scheme. An open-ended delay in provided a RAMP will seriously affect the ability of the ORS to license sellers of liquor.

MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo) (5.30): The Greens will not be supporting Mrs Dunne’s amendment No 13. We are of the view that the RAMP time lines have been relatively clear. We think licensees are aware of the requirements and can meet them. The minister has just spelt out a number of the points that I was intending to make. We will not be supporting the amendment.

MRS DUNNE (Ginninderra) (5.30): I agree with Mr Rattenbury that the RAMP time lines are clear; they are just unreasonably short. It is not the case that the licence fee cannot be set without the submission of the RAMP. You have to put in your licence application, and that is where the licence fee is determined. The licence fee is determined by the licence, not by the RAMP. The minister and the Greens show by their rejection of this amendment that they do not care about the regulatory impact this will have on the people in the ACT. It is not about avoiding doing the RAMP; it is about giving a reasonable time line in which to do it.

Question put:

That Mrs Dunne’s amendment be agreed to.

The Assembly voted—

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