The ACT Government said yesterday it would consider changing licensing laws in the suburbs after unruly behaviour in Manuka on New Year’s Eve.The Attorney-General, Terry Connolly, said that he was not surprised that behaviour was unruly in Manuka while crowds in Civic were well-behaved.
He said he would refer the Manuka situation to the Community Safety Committee headed by Ken Begg.
The committee’s work and its report Civic By Night had helped reduce problems in Civic with co-operation of licensees who had tightened up on underage drinking and serving intoxicated people. Extra police presence and late-night public transport had also helped.
However, it might not be possible to put those resources into all parts of Canberra so licensing hours should be looked at, with Civic a 24-hour zone which had the resources to control it and the suburbs with staggered hours, he said. Mr Connolly said Manuka had rapidly emerged as the trouble spot.
The calling for the blocking of Franklin Street by Opposition Leader Kate Carnell and Manuka traders had been an invitation for trouble. It required co-operative and careful action to get the sort of result Civic had achieved in the past two New Year’s Eves. It was not a question of just increasing police presence.
Actions by licensees and no-alcohol zones helped _ as this year’s Summernats showed. Also the law enabling police to seize and tip out alcohol being drunk by people in no-alcohol zones helped control public drunkenness without arrests and convictions. The Government would have to look at footpath drinking.