Man faces one-punch pub attack charges
The assault on 36-year-old Melissa Abdoo — who suffered head injuries and is in a stable condition in a Townsville hospital — came less than a week after 18-year-old Cole Miller died after being hit from behind in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley.
Miller’s family and supporters will gather in the city today to remember the teenager and to protest against alcohol-fuelled violence, ahead of a meeting tomorrow between Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath and her opposition counterpart to discuss Labor’s proposed liquor laws.
Labor wants to introduce 2am last drinks across the state, or 3am for nightclub areas with a 1am lockout — modelled on Newcastle and Sydney’s alcohol reforms — but it needs the support of the Liberal National Party opposition, or two of the four crossbenchers in the state’s hung parliament, to pass the reforms.
LNP legal affairs spokesman Ian Walker told The Australian he was unconvinced that restricted liquor serving hours were the right approach, but was willing to negotiate with the government.
“We remain ready to talk to the government on a broad range of issues that might solve the dreadful range of incidents we’ve seen recently,” he said.
The most recent unprovoked attack occurred about midnight on Friday outside Mount Isa’s The Buffs Club — which opens until 3am every night. CCTV footage released by Queensland police shows Ms Abdoo calmly speaking to a woman outside the club, when she is allegedly struck by a man police maintain is a 28-year-old from the northwest Queensland mining town. Police say Ms Abdoo had just refused the man entry for being drunk.
Her neck is caught in the crook of his elbow, forcing her to fall to the ground and hit her head on the concrete. The video footage shows her struggling to sit up and grasping a metal pole for support.
The mother-of-two’s alleged assailant flees, pursued by security guards from the hotel.
The 28-year-old has been charged with grievous bodily harm and is due to appear in the Mount Isa Magistrates Court today.
The second one-punch attack in a week will further fuel debate in the state about proposed changes to the way licensed premises serve alcohol. The legislation is being reviewed by a parliamentary committee.
Queensland currently has a statewide 3am lockout in place.
Queensland’s Deputy Director-General of Liquor, Gaming and Fair Trading David Ford last month told the committee that for each hour that liquor trading was reduced, there was a decrease in assaults of up to 22 per cent.
Mr Ford said in Newcastle — where last drinks were called at 3am, with a 1.30am lockout, and the sale of high-alcohol drinks restricted after midnight — assaults fell 37 per cent in 18 months.
Labor’s reforms are facing stiff opposition from the nightclub industry, which disputes the success of the Newcastle experiment and argues that it might not work in Queensland.
More than 100 submissions protesting against the new laws — submitted through a standard form on the industry’s Our Nightlife website — have been received by the committee.
It’s not clear whether the Mount Isa assault will change the view of crossbenchers and Katter’s Australian Party MPs Robbie Katter (Mount Isa) and Shane Knuth (Dalrymple), who have been advocating a more relaxed approach for north Queensland.
Source: The Australian, Sarah Elks, 11th January 2016
