Newcastle's trial of relaxed liquor laws will allow bars in four inner-city postcodes to stay open until 2am and restaurants to open until midnight serving stronger alcoholic drinks.
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The six-month trial into new late-night trading restrictions will cover up to seven bars and 120 restaurants in the suburbs of Newcastle, Newcastle East, Newcastle West and Cooks Hill.
Licensed premises in the inner-city cannot sell cocktails and shots after 10pm and small bars close at midnight under the so-called "Newcastle Solution" introduced in 2008 to curb alcohol-related assaults.
A spokesperson for Liquor & Gaming NSW said the trial would "ensure that small bars and restaurants in Newcastle which are currently constrained by council or liquor licensing conditions can operate as per the standard operating hours in the Liquor Act, that is, until midnight for restaurants and 2am for small bars".
One Nation MP Mark Latham, the chair of the Newcastle Committee for Night Time Jobs and Investment overseeing the trial, said police would supervise restaurants so they did not "morph into nightclubs".
He said City of Newcastle had identified venues which could participate in the trial from October 1 and was contacting them to determine if they wanted to take part.
The police association and medical groups have publicly criticised the trial, but Mr Latham denounced opposition to relaxed trading restrictions as "wowserism" and "puritanical".
"I just don't think restaurants and small bars staying open later in Newcastle in the current environment is like the sky falling. It's not," he told the Newcastle Herald.
The Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority, which oversees licences and whose chair is on the committee, said on Wednesday that it supported a "limited trial of relaxed liquor conditions in the Newcastle CBD".
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Mr Latham was part of a joint parliamentary committee last year which recommended Sydney CBD's lockouts be scrapped and Newcastle's licensing conditions be reviewed if the Sydney changes were a success.
But he said the Newcastle trial was "clearly not" about ending the city's lockouts, which restrict movement between inner-city pubs and nightclubs after 1.30am.
Most restaurants have on-premises liquor licences and, under liquor laws, "must operate as a restaurant preparing and serving meals to the public at all times".
If they want to serve alcohol without food, they can apply for a primary service authorisation (PSA), after paying a fee and completing a community impact statement.
Asked whether restaurants participating in the trial would need a PSA, Mr Latham said those details would be finalised at the committee's next meeting on September 9.
"They're restaurants, and the police have said any establishment that tried to morph into nightclubs they'd be kicked out of the trial straight away. So it'll be policed by the police."
Newcastle MP Tim Crakanthorp later confirmed that restaurants in the trial would need to apply for a PSA to stay open until midnight without continuing to serve meals.
Mr Latham confirmed the government would issue a statement of regulatory intent, a legal instrument which will change the way liquor authorities enforce licensing arrangements, to facilitate the trial, and the council would vary businesses' conditions of consent so they could stay open later.
"We've carefully vetted this with the police. We don't want restaurants that morph into nightclubs, so there'll be none of that.
"Some of them have already been vetted out on that basis by the police. We're doing everything we can to put boundaries around this to meet the stated objectives."
A spokesman for the Restaurant and Catering Association said the industry body did not support restaurants converting into small bars after 10pm unless they had a PSA.
"We're keen to make sure businesses have a strong regulatory checkpoint in place, otherwise you have a large departure from the current licensing arrangements," he said.
He said restaurant owners would not pay staff to keep kitchens open until midnight, but some might see value in transforming into a bar after 10pm.
The trial is likely to be more appealing to small bars, which will vie for late-night customers with hotels and nightclubs and be able to serve stronger drinks than their competitors.
Mr Latham said he had been in Newcastle on Saturday night and the "tiny number of people on the streets after 10pm were mostly skateboarders".
"I think, like any visitor to Newcastle, you're struck by the absence of people on the streets doing things, in the Mall area, in Honeysuckle," he said.
"Walking down empty streets is not enticing, and that is a visitor experience in Newcastle at the moment.
"It just doesn't feel like a city that has anything happening past 10pm on a Saturday night. We're trying to allow that problem to be overcome with some pretty tight boundaries around what we're talking about.
"The idea of people staying at a restaurant until 11pm and sitting back and having a coffee and affogato, whatever takes their fancy, I mean, this should be a regular part of a free society with a decent night economy."
He said "every suggestion" made by the two senior police on the committee had been adopted.
"Once the rules are set, we'll run a trial and have data collection in terms of what happens in terms of jobs and public safety.
"Whether you like it or not, responsible drinking is not illegal, and people enjoying a responsible night out in a restaurant or a small bar is not illegal.
"Newcastle should be a big, vibrant, active place in which to go out, and part of that is people having a responsible drink."
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IN THE NEWS
Michael Parris
Michael Parris reports on politics for the Newcastle Herald. He started at the Herald in 1994 after working in the ABC Newcastle newsroom. Michael spent much of his career as a sub-editor before moving into political reporting in 2017. He was a finalist in the Sports Australia national media awards for his stories about a male-only tennis club in Newcastle. He has covered NSW and federal elections, state and federal budgets and local politics. He has also written extensively about the COVID-19 pandemic with a special focus on data analysis and the effects of lockdowns on the Hunter community.
Michael Parris reports on politics for the Newcastle Herald. He started at the Herald in 1994 after working in the ABC Newcastle newsroom. Michael spent much of his career as a sub-editor before moving into political reporting in 2017. He was a finalist in the Sports Australia national media awards for his stories about a male-only tennis club in Newcastle. He has covered NSW and federal elections, state and federal budgets and local politics. He has also written extensively about the COVID-19 pandemic with a special focus on data analysis and the effects of lockdowns on the Hunter community.
