Pubs to open for RWC under Act plan

All Blacks fans will be able to watch early morning Rugby World Cup matches in pubs and bars if a move by the Act Party is successful.

Act leader David Seymour has left it late but has announced he will introduce legislation to let punters watch the games in bars and function rooms.

That has "delighted" Hospitality New Zealand who said bars were being made to jump over "ridiculous hurdles" in order to screen early morning games being broadcast from England.

At present venues wanting to show rugby's showpiece tournament matches over anti-social hours in September and October have to apply to their local licensing boards for special licences.

Most of the All Blacks' pool matches fall outside the normal on-licensed venue hours.

The All Blacks' opening match against Argentina on September 20 kicks off at 3.45am NZ time. The next one at 7am and the last two at 8am. The final begins at 5am on November 1.

On-licences in the Auckland region operate under the maximum default hours of 8am-4am as set by government under the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012.

To get a special license, pubs must adhere to a bunch of Auckland Council conditions, including pre-selling tickets to at least half of the event's patrons and closing for an hour before the event.

Mr Seymour said England had changed its licensing laws to accommodate fans during the 2014 Fifa World Cup in Brazil.

"Current licensing arrangements are too inflexible to allow for this special occasion. Bars seeking special licenses are having to jump through all sorts of ridiculous nanny-state hoops.

"Police have indicated to licensees that they will oppose applications unless the licensees agree to conditions like ticket-only sales, fancy dress, live music, quizzes, guest speakers or themed food."

On August 11 - the first sitting day after Parliamentary recess - Mr Seymour said he intended to seek leave to table a Bill allowing bars and function rooms to open for broadcast of any RWC games.

If the motion to table a Bill is accepted by the House, he would then ask Prime Minister John Key to advance it as a government Bill, which would speed up its process. However, it would need to be progressed much more quickly than normal to have any chance of becoming law before the World Cup's kick-off.

If any MP objected to Mr Seymour tabling the Bill it would need to be introduced as a private members' bill, and would not be able to progress before the tournament.

Mr Seymour said that he hoped nobody would object.

"The Labour Party are back in search of Waitakere Man so they would be very foolish to object...the Greens are usually in favour of local community...Winston Peters campaigned on common sense...and for the Maori Party, there were no closing times before the introduction of Europeans so I don't know why they would object.

"And I haven't spoken to Peter Dunne but he is a sensible chap. And the Nats, well they are supposedly the representatives of middle New Zealand."

Bruce Robertson, chief executive of Hospitality New Zealand, said conditions being required by the police - such as guest speakers or themed food - would do nothing to reduce alcohol harm.

The normal conditions around the provision of food and monitoring of intoxication would still be in place under Act's Bill, Mr Robertson said, as well as penalties for breaches.

Last week Auckland Council's alcohol licensing team confirmed it had received 20 applications for special licences.

Viaduct sports bar The Fox Tavern has already applied for a special license so it can show all of the All Blacks games.

Venue manager Justine Smith is hopeful their application will be successful.

"It's great for people to able to come together and support our team, cheer, laugh and chant whether they're drinking orange juice, beer or coffee."

Four Wellington venues have already applied for special licences, Wellington City Council confirmed.

Christchurch City Council said just two on-licences have to date applied for special licences to operate outside the closing hours that vary from 11pm to 4am across the city.

No pubs in Dunedin and Wairarapa had applied for special licenses as of last week.

By Nicholas Jones of the New Zealand Herald

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