That is brilliant news. Also infuriating because all this could have been so easily avoided if only some moron beauraucrat had realised that one size never fits all.

good news, but im not getting how the new link would work, sell more booze, need more security?

means the blacklist may never get a gig again!

I have no idea either.
But it means that something is being done and the tipping point has been reached.
This is a great example of the power of ordinary people effecting change.

Who is this Jon Perring? And what else does he own?

A spokesperson for the state government, Rebecca Harrison, told Crikey that the Director of Liquor Licensing had the power under the Act to ''exempt or modify business from the high risk conditions on a case by case basis''.

Actually, forgot I asked that, it just clicked for me.

Yeah you know, Bar open etc.

Would've been better if The Old Bar took it over.

The member for Richmond, Richard Wynne, is sitting on a tenuous 3.1% buffer in his electorate, which includes The Tote. The electorate of Melbourne, which includes The Arthouse, is held by Bronwyn Pike by an even slimmer margin of 1.9%.

Aaaand there it is.

sounds great. go melbs!

I've been to some good gigs at Bar Open though.

sharptooth - that's what i've had in the back of my head all along..... So, on what basis is the LLC making exemptions or modifications?

personal judgement? in the Tote's case tenuously substantiated by nonsense (crowding and intoxication) - in which case i call for an audit of LLC practices. appears to me there's been a serious abuse of their power here, especially in light that the minister etc said they knew the regulations needed refinement.

This is great news. Good to see pollies gettin' the fear and actually listening to real people for a change.

it's not over until the fat lady ......
and until there's an amendment to the legislation.
and also it's not over until tote management are reimbursed for costs incurred to date due to overregulation.

maybe it's their job?

but all jokes aside. good one peoples.

x-post. obviously pollies job to LISTEN. was my gag-post

Good to see pollies gettin' the fear and actually listening to real people for a change

...said Frankie Teardrop from the internet.

So renovations to the building would be the owners problem? What about CCTV? The security guard issue is the biggest one though and it will be good if they can fix that. It's the only part of the legislation that comprises an ongoing cost and makes live music untenable as a business model.

I like your suggestion, MissOz!
But I am just so happy that the Govt has done something.
I could never have imagined last week that we would be in this position within days.

cctv's been done, the renovations would be more structural.

good news .. common sense hopefully will prevail

She is malevolent against culture.

She is one of those gentrifyers who moved into the CBD and tried to start shutting down bars and venues from the get go.

Bracksy kept her on a tight leash, but Brumby (that wowser cunt) freed her.

The claim that she is vindictive derives from the fact that, after the first failure at VCAT, Ms Maclellan identified 10 individual licensees to go back and test the result. Some of the 10 were run by people who had stood up publicly and criticised her.

Well l guess that makes her human but still a nasty human.

It's highly unprofessional for a career public servant, and shows that she is not very good at the job. A good public servant wouldn't have left such an obvious trail, but dragged out their revenge for a really long time and completely destroyed the opposition.

''The director of Liquor Licensing is consulting industry representatives and is working on refining high-risk conditions so they apply to the venues and activities that present the greatest risk to community amenity and safety,'' a spokeswoman for Mr Robinson said.

Anyone employed in the public service can deconstruct that discourse very easily. Specious, vacuous and euphemistic.

Public servants like Sue McLellan are dotted throughout the public service - and when they're under the spotlight, there's no shortage of 'former colleagues' willing to give an off the record briefing (such as must have happened to fuel the story referrred to above).

The Age weigh in again today:

Liquor crackdown hits jarring note
TOTE Hotel licensees Bruce and James Milne won't get any comfort from it, but the much-loved music venue's closure is textbook proof of the law of unintended consequences. The Tote in Collingwood has been rendered unviable by a licensing crackdown aimed at city nightclubs and drinking barns, in response to public outrage at drunken violence. The venue has a trouble-free, three-decade record that has made it a Melbourne music institution, and it appears public outrage of a different sort may win a reprieve. After State Government minister and member for Richmond Richard Wynne intervened on Tuesday, owner Christopher Morris was ''pretty confident'' a licensee could be found to reopen the venue.

Once again, government regulation has had unintended consequences, despite the lessons of centuries of economic and sociological observation. In 1936, American sociologist Robert K. Merton wrote an influential analysis identifying five sources of unanticipated consequences, with the first two, ignorance and error, the most common. The third he called ''imperious immediacy of interest'', when someone wants the intended consequence of an action so much that potential unintended effects are ignored. All three factors arguably contributed to the Tote's closure.

Such was the public alarm at drunken violence in Melbourne that the Government and police had to respond. They did so with The Age's support, but more than a year ago this newspaper cautioned against a blanket approach: ''We, and the hundreds of thousands who enjoy their evenings out, would not like to see a crackdown squeeze the life and fun out of the city.''

The Tote was deemed ''high risk'', on a par with inner-city trouble spots, because it was open until 3am. It opted to close earlier, which proved to be commercial suicide, rather than pay 500 per cent more for a licence, in addition to security that a venue of its size could not afford. Rather than the ''judicious review of licensing conditions for … violence-prone pubs and clubs'' that this newspaper advocated, authorities disregarded the safe record of the Tote and similar venues.

The community outcry may save the Tote, but other venues have similar problems. Melburnians enjoy one of the world's most dynamic live music scenes, where bands can get their start at venues like the Tote and return as headline acts. No one intended that all this should be at risk. The Government and regulators must take more care to ensure that venues such as this, the beating heart of Melbourne music, are not innocent victims in a legitimate crackdown on violence.

That's from the editorials, this is from business:

Big day on the grog
THE English novelist Samuel Butler once wrote that ''neither irony or sarcasm is an argument'', but it's difficult not to note that, while much-loved Melbourne music venue The Tote has had to close due to restrictive liquor licensing laws, a rock concert aimed at teenagers has picked up its fifth alcohol sponsor.

The laws that forced The Tote out of business are part of the State Government's plan to tackle teenage drinking and drunken violence.

Industry newsletters have reported that Beam Global, the distributor of Jim Beam and Canadian Club, has announced a two-year sponsorship deal with the travelling Big Day Out music festival, which will set up shop in Melbourne on Australia Day. The deal will see Beam Global's range of ready-to-drink (RTD) canned spirits sold throughout the music festival, including Jim Beam and Cola and Jim Beam and Ginger Beer.

The Big Day Out targets younger music fans and is open to patrons aged just 15 and over. Sponsors include Toohey's, Smirnoff, Strongbow and Jagermeister.

Beam Global's Australian brand manager Ray Noble said part of the attraction of sponsoring the Big Day Out was bringing the company's products and advertising campaigns to the younger 18-24 year-old market.

Nothing like getting 'em while they're young

I dunno if anyone has mentioned it, but if, by the LLC logic, venues with late licenses are ''high risk'', rather than just charge them more money to continue to be ''high risk'' (which doesn't actually stop any violence from what I can see), you just shut down their late licence or cancel their licence altogether if there's any trouble?

Their current response will have little to no effect on the amount of inner city violence, related to alcohol or otherwise.

It's not in the LLC's interest to close down venues- they are in the business of regulating and imposing fees on them.
Jenny from accounts would lose her job if there were less venues to regulate. Even if, you know, closing venues that were the centres of violence or in constant breach of their licenses meant the LLC was actually doing something useful.

They shouldn't be in the ''business'' of anything. If a regulatory body relies for it's funding on that which it is supposed to regulate, (and yes I know it's common) but there's no impartiality and major conflict of interest.

And besides, cancelling licenses doesn't mean closing down venues, it means punishing licensees. There's no reason someone else couldn't nominate, is there?

''I don't have to consult with you,'' she shouted. ''She was very abrupt,'' says Andrew Szoeke. ''There was no sense of care for our businesses. She was talking down to us the whole time. Basically, everyone felt as if we were being spoken to as children, that was the tone of it.''

a key platform for the rudd government was support of small business. any public servant in any labor government with such an attitude towards small business should be weeded out.

from the tone of that article they may have tried to but failed... in which case the liability she posed is now manifest. and small businesses (the corner stores, cafes, venues, supermarkets etc.) should be seeking compensation. If maclellans contract is renewed come april i will vomit.

You are correct

then she should stripped of power, put on the bench where she can't do more harm

http://www.marcuswestbury.net/2010/01/21/draconian-liscensing-laws-threaten-melbournes-arts-scene/comment-page-1/#comment-1068

while it's great to see their support for the Tote, it's pretty fucking rich for The Age to start waving the ''save our pubs'' flag when they have nearly single-handedly been the driving force behind the ''public outcry'' over ALCOHOL FUELLED VIOLENCE! and the WAR ON BOOZE!! etc etc.

I remember they did a poll once, around the 2am lock out thing, about whether or not inner city bars should shut early. The majority said yes and it was front page, editorial stood behind it and so on. But if you read down to the bottom, 70% of respondents lived outside of, and never went into the city.

The paper needs to listen to their own caution ''against a blanket approach''.

They address that in the very piece I posted.

Such was the public alarm at drunken violence in Melbourne that the Government and police had to respond. They did so with The Age's support, but more than a year ago this newspaper cautioned against a blanket approach: ''We, and the hundreds of thousands who enjoy their evenings out, would not like to see a crackdown squeeze the life and fun out of the city.''

One line of remorse doesn't quite match over a year of chest-beating

Bang on OJ.

Much disscussion over drinks last night came to two conclusions:

A large lobby group of publicity savy social drinkers needs to be set up (akin to the NRMA or RACV) so news reports can show the balanced view of Melbourne nightlife with stats as back up:

''According to the Drinkers, 10 000 of their members went our over the weekend and there were no reported incidents of violence, they also report high levels of fun and enjoyment''

&

Addressing the problem of bar staff not being able to mind the door =Someone needs to start up a new security company with well trained but friendly normal people. In my experience ring-in bouncers who have no idea of the culture of a place eg: small drinking/ music venues only contribute to and environment of violence and aggression. Apprently these sausage factories churning out head kicking tools have the present monoloply on supplying over priced security to all drinking establishments under the fierce LL laws.

I am starting a political party in Victoria called FILL (Fairness in Licensing Laws). I need to recruit 500 members and raise $595. If you're on facebook, join this group to help me get there.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=261178504355

Here are 5 seats that I'm looking at targeting and the swing needed to oust the sitting ALP member (based on 2006 election results)

Northcote: 8.53% to Greens
Brunswick: 3.64% to Greens
Richmond: 3.65% to Greens
Melbourne 2.02% to Greens
Prahran: 3.56% to Liberal