Amy Looker
Liquor restrictions in Western Australia's Goldfields region are set to replicate those imposed on the Pilbara earlier this week.
Effective Monday of this week, the WA Department of Racing, Gaming and Liquor imposed restrictions on liquor retailers in18 towns in the Pilbara, including the mining towns of Karatha and Port Hedland, restricting the sale of alcohol between 11am and 8pm Monday to Saturday and no trading allowed on Sundays.
Pubs and hotels in the towns, however, are still allowed to sell alcohol after midday on Sunday, including those with an adjoining bottleshop, while standalone retailers will not be allowed to open their doors.
Director of Liquor Licensing, Barry Sargeant, has Goldfields next on his agenda, with similar restrictions to come into place on October 29.
The restrictions coming into effect in Goldfields later this month include only allowing packaged liquor to be sold Monday through to Saturday, restrictions on volume sales relating to cask wine and bottled beer in packages containing over 400mls, and requiring the licensee to submit a report on sales data every four months, with the first report due at the end of February next year.
"Following consideration of the responses from licensees and the other stakeholders, I have determined that it is in public interest to impose the following restrictive conditions on your liquor licence in order to minimise the harm caused to people, or any group of people, due to the use of liquor," Sargeant said to licensees in a letter dated September 28.
The restrictions also prohibit the sale of alcohol in individual containers of more than two litres with an ABV of six per cent or more and the sale of fortified wine in containers greater than one litre.