Friday 19 June 2015

Demented Down Under

Australia gets more deranged by the day.
GOLD Coast clubs and pubs may soon be counting patrons’ drinks to keep them sober, rather than risk fines of up to $56,000.
Drinkers are expected to be sober in pubs now?
A radical new State Government plan will see breathalyser-wielding police testing drinkers at the bar to see just how drunk they are, with the results used to build a case against venues.
That's right, pubs can be shut down if they don't correctly guess the amount of alcohol their customers have drunk.
And it appears the blood-alcohol limits for drivers might be the standard on which club drunks are assessed ... 
“Allowing police to breathalyse drunken patrons will help them to build cases for prosecution for court,” said Ms D’Ath. 
“For example, police consider a (blood-alcohol) reading of 0.15 to be highly intoxicated.”
When driving, perhaps, but that's around 4 pints or less. Otherwise known as a light lunch in the Puddlecoteville Arms!
The plan to allow police to breathalyse patrons has been slammed by bar owners who say staff will have no way of knowing a person’s blood-alcohol level before they are served.
Unless they also breathalyse customers before they serve them, of course. What fun evenings that will make, eh?
James Tweddell, owner of Broadbeach restaurant and nightclub East, said allowing police to randomly breath-test patrons was draconian and ridiculous. 
“If someone is arrested and has committed a crime and police want to breathalyse him, I support that. 
“But if someone wants to enjoy a night out, like a 40th, and the cops are going to walk in and breathalyse people at a venue, then that is ludicrous.”
You'd think so wouldn't you? But incredibly, in the comments under the article, many Australians actually think this is a great idea! Good grief.

H/T Tim Andrews who I truly pity for having to live down there.


9 comments:

Robert Innes said...

Will this mean a rise in alcohol consumption? When alcohol is driven to the black market it will become less expensive - a shame for the pubs. Have they not learned the lesson from cigarettes?

nisakiman said...

Ye Gods, what on earth is going on in Australia?

I can see a mandatory dress code approaching for the once freewheeling Aussies...

SIZE 15CARBON FOOTPRINT said...

Wish the police good luck with this one.

Deb Downes said...

Well DP, what you have to understand is that Australia was built on the sweat of convicts exported from the UK. The only state in OZ that didn't start from a convict base is South Australia (which is where I live lol). I sometimes wonder whether our predisposition to controlling the behaviour of our citizens is related to this historical fact. I feel that culturally we're becoming somewhat schizophrenic - publicly we are seen as relaxed, happy go lucky larrikins, meanwhile privately (back at home) we have a bunch of various ANTI-everything trying to control that behaviour. They seek to lead us to a future of depressed, anxiety ridden serfs :)

Deb Downes said...

Me too, poor sods having to implement rather strange laws when, I'm sure the police might see issue such as robbery, murder and child abuse as being somewhat more important - and perhaps what they signed up for?

Barman said...

First they came for the smokers...

jude said...

What it will mean is that yet more clubs and pubs will simply close down, as no-one wants to be harassed by breathalyser wielding police when they go out to have a good time. People will just stay home and drink or have their parties. This has already happened with the smoking ban, and the lowering of the drink driving limit to .05. Why risk a fine and having your license revoked, by just staying home you can have a drink, a smoke, or vape, (no pubs allow vaping in my town, despite being practically empty on the weekends), without being harassed.


Poor fella my country.

Vinny Gracchus said...

Well, the denial of the 'slippery slope' always quoted by the antis is increasingly shown the the lie it is. Australia seems a particularly sad case of healthist totalitarian control running amok. First the indoor bans then plain packages, now the outdoor patio, park and downtown bans, as well as adding vaping to the prohibited list. New Zealand and Canada aren't far behind, as is the case in the US and UK. The danger of this wholesale destruction of liberty must be exposed. The tobacco control agenda is quickly becoming entrenched. The underlying lies and manipulations that sustain the bans need to be made known to the public. Sadly large segments of the public believe the tobacco control propaganda and are fueling the prohibitionist hysteria.

jonuk76 said...

Next up, fish and chip shops in Oz instructed to do BMI assessments on all customers... With strict orders to refuse service to anyone who scores over 20. It sounds ridiculous, but then so does a pub breathalyzing their customers!!