Mr. Donall O'Keeffe:

We agree entirely with the Senator. There is a need for licensing reform. Our submission to the night-time economy task force called for 5 a.m. trading to be available seven nights a week in our capital city under strict licensing conditions and for much later trading to become available. We think the special exemption order process in terms of cost and bureaucracy is completely out of date and will be an inhibitor to our recovery. The detail of how this is reviewed and modernised is very important to us. The capital city needs later trading to cater for obvious domestic and, please God, tourist demand when we reopen.

We note from the comments of the Minister on the proposed licensing reforms that she intends to regularise Sunday hours, something for which we have been calling for many years. We also note that she intends to provide new formal licensing for cultural venues. We have some concerns about this to be frank. We need to see the detail. We do not want it to be a backdoor into the licensed trade. There should be one simple rule, which is a level playing field with the same licensing and same costs for all involved in the selling of alcohol. We need to see the detail of what is involved in a cultural licence being granted and make sure it does not become a backdoor into the licensed trade and that it is for genuine bona fide cultural events. We will support much of what is proposed.