Article: Call for pubs to offer buses home

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Call for pubs to offer buses home

Call for pubs to offer buses home
Genevieve Gannon
December 5, 2010

CITY pubs and clubs spend big on getting patrons in the door, but under the new Coalition government they may also have to invest in getting them out.

Transport Minister Terry Mulder wants licensees to play a role in providing late-night transport for patrons when the public system stops running.

His vision is for courtesy buses, similar to those operating in country towns, that are at least in part funded by licensees.

''I don't think the public in general would think that they should have to spend their money getting drunks out of the city,'' he said. ''Some might say licensees have an obligation to make sure people get home safely.''

He hopes to meet with licensees to discuss the ideas after this week's ministerial briefings are out of the way.

Mr Mulder's comments came after the Greens raised the possibility before the election of 24-hour public transport from the CBD on weekends.

Greens candidate for Melbourne Brian Walters said the plan would cut city violence and also help shift workers get home. But both the Liberal and Labor parties rejected the suggestion.

Mr Mulder said there were other priorities for public transport spending and there was a role for venues to play in getting patrons home. ''They have a duty of care,'' he said.

The suggestion has not been welcomed by licensees.

The president of the Association of Liquor Licensees Melbourne, Vernon Chalker, said the plan was impossible and ludicrous. ''If Mr Mulder comes up with a viable alternative, I'll look at that,'' he said.

Mr Chalker, part owner of Madame Brussels, Collins Quarter and Gin Palace, said he paid for all of his employees to get taxis home from work and he was trying to run his businesses properly and profitably. ''There are already so many regulations that we have to comply with just to serve alcohol,'' he said.

Public Transport Users Association president Daniel Bowen said it was worth investigating the possibility of getting funding from licensees, but ultimately he believed transport was a government responsibility.

''No courtesy buses will be able to provide the sort of network that will get everyone home,'' he said.

Nightclub Owners Forum convener Peter Iwaniuk said the idea could send licence holders broke and the additional costs would have to be passed on to patrons. The forum has long been campaigning for 24-hour public transport from the CBD.

Mr Iwaniuk said it was not just the patrons that needed to be considered, but the hundreds of people who came into the city at weekends to work during the night.

''The bus boys, the bar tenders who work in my clubs, most of them are working students. And they can get stranded,'' he said.