But not all owners of premises in Dunedin’s Octagon are jumping for joy at the prospect.
A member’s Bill from Labour MP Kieran McAnulty, amending the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act to allow premises that are already open on Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Anzac Day morning and Christmas Day to sell alcohol under normal licence conditions, passed its third reading yesterday.
Brew Bar manager Jasmine Ngatai said she had been ‘‘waiting very patiently’’ for the verdict and was excited to see the Act was being amended.
‘‘I think it will be obviously amazing for hospitality.
‘‘Having massive holidays that we have to close from Friday until Monday - I just feel it’ll be so helpful for hospitality, having some places open where people can celebrate with family and friends and turn it into a big fun weekend for everybody.’’
Vault 21, Graze and Glow, Prohibition Smokehouse, Catacombs night club, and Pizza Bar owner Andre Shi was also pleased to see the third reading pass.
‘‘It’s great news.
‘‘Literally, it will give all the hospitality venues a choice whether you want to open on these public holidays or not.
‘‘It’s quite a big part of income streams that was unavailable. I think it’s good for tourism businesses, hospitality business as well.’’
But both Miss Ngatai and Mr Shi said their businesses would not be open on Good Friday, because they had already given their staff time off over the religious weekend.
However, they were looking forward to being open on Anzac Day.
CBK owner John Macdonald was less enthusiastic about the amendment, and said it would not make opening on the public holidays any more palatable.
Because he sold meals, he was legally allowed to open on Good Friday and Easter Sunday anyway, but he would not be opening over Easter this year.
‘‘We’re not going to open on Friday or Monday, for a couple of different reasons.
‘‘One of them is that it’s Warbirds year and 65,000 people will attend, even though unfortunately the [F-22 Raptor] jets aren’t coming.
‘‘It’s also a time of year when everyone heads out of town for a break.
‘‘There’s a lot of people away and so we’ve just decided that it’s probably not in our best interests to open.
‘‘Just by circumstance, the Highlanders have got a bye, so there’s no local football.
‘‘The other reason is you’ve got to pay penal rates as well, which essentially is two and a-half times.
‘‘By the time you add a day in lieu for staff, essentially, we need to turn over three times what we would normally turn over to make it profitable.’’
While the new law may make operations less confusing on those days, it would not make it more palatable to open on those days, he said.
Mr McAnulty said the amendment aimed to clear up a ‘‘confusing law’’ that had been in place for a long time.
At present, bars and restaurants can only sell alcohol if the patron is ‘‘residing or lodging’’ on the premises, or ‘‘present on the premises to dine’’.
The general requirement was that patrons had to order a ‘‘substantial meal’’, but Mr McAnulty said that was not defined, and patrons were not required to eat it anyway.
‘‘That is a bit of a farce of a situation.
‘‘So all we’re doing is clearing it up that those businesses that are already able to operate anyway can do so under normal conditions, and those that can’t - like off-licences and supermarkets - they remain restricted.
‘‘But for those on-licences that are already operating, they can do so normally.’’
An amendment proposed by Act Party MP Cameron Luxton has also been adopted into the Bill, meaning bars could open after midnight on Anzac and Easter holidays.
Mr Luxton hoped it would be in place in time for the Super Round at Christchurch’s new stadium, where 10 Super Rugby teams will play over the weekend of April 24-26. It meant rugby fans would not be kicked out at midnight for Anzac Day.
- Additional reporting RNZ
