The ACT Government advised the hospitality industry this week that they do not have to pay their liquor licenses for three months until the end of June.
The Australian Hospitality Association – ACT Branch welcomed the decision, said general manager Anthony Brierley, but was disappointed that the Commonwealth Government did not follow the ACT Government’s lead in Tuesday’s budget, and provide direct and targeted support for the hospitality industry.
The ACT Government announced in last week’s 2021–22 Budget Review that it would extend the reduction in liquor licence fees from 1 April to 30 June, and increase the reduction from half to all the licence fee, at a cost of $650,000.
The full waiver will apply to nightclub, restaurant and café, bar, general, catering special and club liquor licences.
Mr Brierley said the AHA ACT advised the ACT Government earlier this year that licensed hospitality venues had been required to pay half of their liquor license fees for the three-month period last year when their businesses were closed.
“We felt that this arrangement was manifestly unfair, and the ACT Government gave our concerns a fair hearing. Last week’s announcement remedies this inequity.”
Tara Cheyne, ACT Minister for Business and Better Regulation, said the waiver could save bars $750 and nightclubs $4,500.
“This initiative will benefit licencees and provide further targeted financial support for local businesses impacted by COVID-19,” Ms Cheyne said.
“This temporary and targeted tax reduction by the ACT Government will allow hospitality operators to keep more money in their businesses as they recover from COVID, helping them to employ more staff, pay down debt, and re-invest in our local hospitality ecosystem,” Mr Brierley said.
However, Mr Brierley said, the AHA ACT and its members were disappointed that the Commonwealth Government didn’t follow the ACT Government’s lead in its federal budget on Tuesday night, and provide direct and targeted support for the hospitality industry.
The AHA and hospitality and brewery organisations had lobbied Treasurer Josh Frydenberg to cut the draught beer excise by half, Drinks Digest reported, and it was widely reported that the budget would include that cut – disappointing the industry when it was left out.
“Despite Senator Zed Seselja’s welcome support for our industry, the AHA’s calls for a modest reduction in draught beer excise were ignored by the Commonwealth Government,” Mr Brierley said.
Last month, Senator Seselja, informed by Sky News that the government would cut the draught beer excise in the upcoming budget, responded: “Obviously I had no inside info other than what you’ve just told me, but I have had approaches from the clubs and the pubs. If we can see those hospitality works, more of those in the workforce and Australians get a slightly cheaper schooner, well, fantastic.”
The Australia Institute think tank argued that removing the beer excise would be ineffective and gender biased, benefitting men more than women, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
“It’s safe to say that our members feel let down by senior members of the Commonwealth Government,” Mr Brierley said. “The hidden beer tax – the fourth highest in the world – doesn’t pass the pub test. It was great that Senator Seselja and so many backbenchers across the country agreed with us. Unfortunately, senior members of the Government stuck in the Canberra bubble didn’t hear the same message from their constituents.”
