By Vanessa Cavasinni, editor Australian Hotelier
AHA NSW members re-elected Scott Leach and Lyn Humphreys as president and senior vice president respectively at yesterday's council meeting. The new executive will hold their positions for a two-year term.
Scott Leach (pictured), who ran against Joanne Blair (Orana), was re-elected convincingly and will now begin his fifth consecutive term as President of AHA NSW.
Besides Leach and Humphreys, other re-elections included those of Kim Maloney OAM (City Central) as vice president, and Colin Waller (South Coast) as treasurer. Phillip Webster (Fairfield-Liverpool) was returned to the Executive, and the Country Executive remained the same as the last two-year term, with Rolly de With (Newcastle), Des Kennedy (Mudgee) and Joanne Blair (Orana) retaining their positions.
Two new appointments were made to the Executive, with Rob Lees (Eastern Suburbs) and Peter Harris (Central Coast) joining the council, after Dan Brady and Colin Parras did not stand for their previous positions.
Leach thanked his supporters yesterday, and affirmed that he will continue to address ill-conceived policy forced upon the hotel industry.
“Members are understandably frustrated over issues such as lockouts in Sydney and Kings Cross and the state-wide ban on take-away sales after 10.00pm,” he said.
“The AHA NSW does not support blanket policy which unfairly penalises many safe, well run venues with a proven track record of compliance.
“We support evidence-based policies targeted at those doing the wrong thing. I hope the Callinan Review into the Government’s liquor legislation leads to objective assessment of the regulations imposed on the industry over the last two years.”
Leach concluded by stating that he looked forward to working with the executive team over the next two-year period.