By Andrew Starke
The Queensland Office of liquor and gaming regulation has moved to reassure the State’s publicans and club owners that not all ‘high risk’ nightspots will face glass bans.
A new list of over 70 pubs and clubs most likely to be affected by the restrictions has been published and include the majority of late night venues in the city’s nightclub districts: the Brisbane’s CBD and Fortitude Valley.
However a spokesperson for the regulator ruled out a blanket ban, stating that each establishment would be judged on its merits and track record before a decision on its future was made. This process is likely to take until the end of 2009.
Included in the list of 70 ‘high risk’ venues are such diverse premises as the exclusive Qantas Club Chairman’s Lounge at Brisbane Airport, which is under scrutiny due to its late hours of trade, the International Players Cabaret and Sportsbar in Ipswich and Pine Rivers United Sports Club at Strathpine.
The measure are part of a crack down on the use of glass in high risk, problem venues across the state in a bid to improve public safety and reduce alcohol-fuelled violence.
Premier Anna Bligh said the government would work with the liquor industry and the Queensland Police Service to identify high risk venues and aim to replace glass with plastic or similar cups by the end of the year.
"We will be identifying those high risk venues – those places with a history of violence – and acting at high risk times to get plastic drinking vessels in place,” Bligh said. “Enough is enough – we have to act to stop glass being used as a weapon.”
According to new figures release by Government, there have been 45 recorded instances of glassings in licensed premises in Queensland since July 2008.
The majority (64 percent) of these have occurred in hotels with a further 17 percent occurring in nightclubs.
The 70 + ‘at risk’ venues are:
Club India, Brisbane
Transcontinental Hotel, Brisbane
The Federal Hotel, Ipswich
Zuri Lounge, Fortitude Valley
Uber, West End
Pine Rivers United Sports Club, Strathpine
The Hi-Fi Brisbane, West End
International Players Cabaret and Sportsbar, Ipswich
Victory Hotel, Brisbane
Empire Hotel, Fortitude Valley
Bunk, Fortitude Valley
The Family Nightclub, Fortitude Valley
Hotel Wickham, Fortitude Valley
Caxton Hotel, Petrie Tce
St Pauls on Leichhardt, Brisbane
Fridays, Brisbane
Pig N Whistle, Eagle St, Brisbane
Port Office Hotel, Brisbane
Chalk Hotel, Woolloongabba
The Velvet Cigar, Petrie Tce
The Fox Hotel, South Brisbane
Players Universal Lounge, Brisbane
The Lasseters Valley Hotel, Fortitude Valley
Union Jacks Ale House, Brisbane
Jade Buddha, Brisbane
Sportsman Hotel, Spring Hill,
The Met, Fortitude Valley
Jimmy’s On The Mall, Brisbane
Tony’s Niteclub, Fortitude Valley
Planet Nightclub, Fortitude Valley
Rockafellas Bar, Fortitude Valley
The GPO Hotel, Fortitude Valley
Bank Vault Lounge, Fortitude Valley
Bad Girls, Fortitude Valley
Down Under Bar & Grill, Brisbane
Club Minx, Brisbane
Just Hooters, Brisbane
Embassy Hotel, Brisbane
Royal George Hotel, Fortitude Valley
Little Jumbo, Brisbane
Brazilian Touch, Fortitude Valley
Mustang Bar, Fortitude Valley
The Elephant and Wheelbarrow, Fortitude Valley
Bohemia, Petrie Tce
The Monastery, Fortitude Valley
Scores Night Club, Fortitude Valley
The Cabaret Nightclub, Fortitude Valley
Qantas Club, Qantas Club Lounge, Qantas Chairman Lounge, Brisbane Airport
Hotel LA, Petrie Tce
Rics Cafe, Fortitude Valley
Exchange Hotel, Brisbane
The Beat Cabaret and Restaurant, Fortitude Valley
Showgirls CC, Brisbane
The Fringe Bar, Fortitude Valley
Step Inn, Fortitude Valley
Rosies on Edward, Brisbane
Club 299, Fortitude Valley
Mystique, Fortitude Valley
Kaliber Boutique Lounge Dining, Fortitude Valley
Love and Rockets, Petrie Tce
Imagination Cafe, Bar & Cafe, Petrie Tce
Love and Rockets, Fortitude Valley
The Calypso, Expresso Bar & Cafe
Casablanca Brasserie & Cafe
Arena, Fortitude Valley
Bar Soma Restaurant, Fortitude Valley
Siam Samrarn Thai Restaurant, West End
Not Quite 299, Fortitude Valley
X & Y Bar, Fortitude Valley
Normanby Hotel, Red Hill
Royal Exchange Hotel, Toowong
Alexandra Hills Hotel, Alexandra Hills