Kings Cross pubs put on notice

AAP
July 18, 2012

PUBS and clubs in Sydney’s Kings Cross that have been flouting liquor laws could be fined or stripped of their licences following a state government audit.

NSW Hospitality Minister George Souris announced the audit in response to the death of Thomas Kelly, 18, who was king hit while walking along the neon-lit grog mecca earlier this month.

Auditors began visiting licensed premises in the Cross on Tuesday night to inspect incident registers and cross-check them with CCTV footage from inside the venues.

“Whatever miscompliance there may be, there are a range of sanctions,” Mr Souris told reporters.

“The Liquor Act itself is powerful enough to undertake whatever sanctions are required and whatever sanctions are necessary as a result of miscompliance.”

That includes stripping liquor licences and fines.

Mr Souris said it will take at least four days to visit all the venues and additional time for incident registers and CCTV footage to be correlated.

The minister denied claims made by NSW Greens MP John Kaye that pubs and clubs had been tipped off about the audit before the plan was formally announced at a community forum on Tuesday night.

Premier Barry O’Farrell said the audit was one part of a wider attempt to try and combat alcohol-fuelled violence across the state.

“The issue of alcohol use and abuse, the issue of violence in our community is not limited to Kings Cross, it’s not limited to the Sydney CBD, it’s regrettably a fact of life across the whole of NSW,” he added.