By ERWIN CHLANDA
The new owner of the Piggly Wiggly supermarket, whose liquor outlet has been shut down for 48 hours by the police, says he has been working with them to reduce anti-social behaviour in the area.
Haydn Rodda, who bought the business with his wife only five weeks ago, says the order was given by the police yesterday.
Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw says in a media release: “On 17, 21 and 23 July 2018 it is alleged by police that liquor was sold to drunk persons” by the supermarket and he is exercising powers that came into effect from 20 June.
Mr Rodda says no proof of offences alleged by Mr Kershaw was given to him. He has shown the police CCTV footage recorded by the shop which in his view did not show any indication that customers were drunk.
Mr Rodda says the staff in the liquor part of the shop are experienced and had been with the business for years.
They observe people walking in, and have a conversation with them to gauge if they are drunk. This is normal routine, he says.
No-one is served unless they can be recognised on the photo ID they present.
Mr Rodda says there are frequently drunks in the area, including across the road, something he is keen to help stop. No proof has been presented that these people bought the liquor from Piggly Wiggly.
Commissioner Kershaw says: “In the past 14 days, police have attended 29 separate incidents on or near that same licensed premises, including general and domestic disturbances, assaults, drunk persons and liquor offences.”
Mr Rodda says the police are clearly making a point: “We’ve been working with the police for the past few weeks, since we’ve taken over.
“We welcomed the police to be here, to stop the anti-social behaviour out the front, down the road or wherever. We’ve been trying to do what we can.
“Obviously the commissioner just said, we’re going to start with Piggly’s, we are going to put our foot down, they’ve got a few issues, bang.
“I was shocked, my wife is very shocked.
“Obviously Piggly’s has been on the radar, and we are the first and we’re not going to be the last.
“I think they are going to be very heavy-handed.”
Mr Rodda has been a businessman in Alice Springs for 25 years and his wife has lived here for 48 years.
Police said in an email at 3.30pm today: “As the matters have been referred to Licensing, NT Police are unable to comment further.”
Monday, November 18, 2024
The freedom of the press still furnishes that check upon government which no constitution has ever been able to provide – Chicago Tribune.
Cashless welfare cards required in Oz. No grog, no smokes, no illicit drugs.
Very good, but the staff should be penalised like in the 70s when the one serving the alcohol to an intoxicated person was given a very heavy fine. The licensee cannot be there watching everything all the time, and the fear of the fine would make the staff more responsible.
Intoxication is a rather subjective term. Unless there can be a clearly defined definition of “drunk” which can be readily tested by the licensee, then the discretion of police will continue to be used as they see fit.
One person’s drunk is another person’s tipsy. Should a tipsy person, half way through a party not be allowed buy another carton of beer?
Traffic rules are simple – less than .05. No such standard seems to exist for a licensee. As such, let the police wear the responsibility of making such judgements and as written by the owners – they are keen to have police at their premises.
My guess is most of the drunks had bought their booze elsewhere and were just hanging around the Pigglys vicinity.
I expect Pigglys has generally been doing the right thing.
I am sick to death of grog shops in supermarkets and all that entails!
Why can’t grog shops be kept in completely seperate areas of town so we can do our shopping in peace.
The proliferation of grog shops is ridiculous in a town of this size.
I love a drink, but I’m sick of grog. How about we agree to crush the status quo and do something radical … to change the situation in a hurry for the benefit of most?
My take is that we should consider a ban on take away sales* from all outlets for an indefinite period: move the industry from point of sale to home delivery only.
At the point of delivery, the purchaser has to be there to receive it … their ID has to match that location.
I can hear liquor licensees screaming about the injustice of having their cash cow slaughtered … so a license buy back scheme would be appropriate.
*To allow tourist access to booze, allow those whose ID says they live more than 2000kms away to purchase point of sale …. but at the same time, limit their spend to something like $100 per week … enough to have a tipple but not enough to feed an addiction.
No proof and the police can close the shop down – that is supposed to be illegal so maybe Reece Kershaw should be charged.
It would be different if the owner was given evidence of it happening.
This is not supposed to be a police state – being run by the police who just decide to close down shops without proof.