Karratha booze ‘Un-Australian’
A booze ban in Karratha looks set to be a flop after the Director of Liquor Licensing Duncan Ord conceded that Pilbara residents could sidestep the daily takeaway limit of one bottle of spirits or a combination of a carton of beer and three bottles of wine during the week by simply shopping at multiple bottle shops.
“There is of course the WA Police Force who are supporting these changes and if people are concerned there is grog shopping going on, then police have the powers to intervene and confiscate that alcohol,” Ord said.
Local bottle shop and pub owners are not happy with the restrictions which include a ban on the sale of takeaway alcohol on Sundays, describing them as “un-Australian”. They are expected to meet next week to discuss a possible appeal.
Ord backed the restrictions, saying that services in the region, where the alcohol consumption is higher than the rest of WA, could not keep up.
“The restrictions on volume and sales is a more practical imposition than trying to increase policing of alcohol in the community more broadly with people spread across such a long distance,” he said.
Sheridan Randall, 18th January 2019
