davistev

Just a heads up to any tourist who wishes to buy a beer at Ayers Rock resort. Yesterday I dropped in after a long drive. I figured I would have a cold beer with lunch and be on my way. I was refused a beer due to the fact that I was not a "guest" at the resort. Not a big issue in my mind but a cold beer would have gone down extremely well. The bar man said it was NT law and pointed to the sign behind him hanging on the wall. Yep - sure enough it said that under NT Law I had to be over 18 and a resident or guest at the resort.

I didn't argue but being "denied" a cold beer with my lunch is not a great feeling. I am now wondering what law is this guy talking about? To what purpose? What moron legislated this law. What about all the tourists who do a day trip to the Rock, campers passing by etc - all denied as well?

I also witnessed a man being denied a second beer after he bought a pint and drank it at the bar and then ordered another one. The barman said "no" - the customer was not allowed to drink at the bar but must sit down on a chair and sip it. The French tourist was puzzled! He was denied a second beer. I am sure he will not return or recommend the Outback Hotel to anyone.

Lastly, I saw an Aboriginal family ordering some take away from the food shop and they were approached by security guards asking them questions as to the purpose of their visit. They did not ask the white family these questions.


What is up with this place?

bensyd

Ever tried buying more than $100 of alcohol at a bottle shop in NT? They have to record your address per your license and record details of where you intend to consume the alcohol.

There is a big alcohol problem up there, but I do object to some stranger requiring to record my intended movements.

Spent_All_My_Miles

Your profile says you are based in Australia ... and you are not familiar with the issues in the NT? There's news every few days in the newspapers (or was, when I spent a few months in Sydney)

number_6

Most towns in NT have an AMP (alcohol management program) in place, presumably for good reason. As for who legislated it, most likely the NT licensing Commission ratified it (remember this is a territory and not a state, so much governance is by decree unlike in the states). I doubt that any of what you describe was related to the resort management, rather it was NT regulations being ever so quaint. And despite these restrictions on alcohol, consumption is still double per adult compared to the rest of Australia.

davistev

I do know of the alcohol problems in the NT. What I am talking about is having one beer at a resort and being denied it even after I have purchased a meal.

Hence, my question - what NT Law says I can't have a beer with my meal at Yulara tourist resort? Is it because it is on Aboriginal Land or ? Whatever it is, travellers be aware - that pub has no beer for people just driving through Yulara.

BearX220

I brought my own. I agree the regime that controls all the concessions in the Uluru orbit is rather unpleasant and does not encourage repeat custom, but for lots of reasons (pricing, service levels, etc.) besides booze controls which they are probably mandated to enforce.

number_6

It will be an NT Licensing Commission regulation, so you can look it up if you are so inclined. Legislation is not needed for a territory, it is governed by decree Now if you were in WA or SA or even NSW it would be completely different.

thadocta

Not true, legislation must still be passed by the Assembly (just like in the states), it is just that the legislation can be overruled by the Commonwealth (which is what happened with the euthanasia legislation passed by the NT Assembly) - regulations merely need to be tabled in the Parliament, which is exactly what happens in the states (and with the Commonwealth as well).

The NT Liquor Act can be found here. I am suspecting that it is a specific condition of the liquor license granted to a venue which prevents alcohol being sold to non-guests, rather than a blanket prohibition.

(As an aside, I really wish you would check your facts before posting, number_6 - you get things wrong more often than you get things right).

Dave

PresRDC

While it seems the report was complying with applicable law in this case, after makign two trips to Uluru (with a third forthcoming), my view is that Uluru is an amazing experience despite the Ayers Rock Resort.*


* Only stayed at Sails -- considering Longitude 131 this time.

number_6

The OP's question was what legislation controlled what the resort did (with the implication that the resort management was deciding and not the law); since you are a stickler for facts, note that it is an AMP that caused the OP's observed resort behaviour, and that AMP is not legislated or provieded for in the law except in the law creating the Licensing Commission. The AMP is entirely by regulation and not legislation; I suppose the practical impact of this is only that the voters in the NT cannot directly affect the terms of the AMP and have little say in the matter. More to the point, the resort operator may be guilty of not explaining the rules to tourists, but isn't guilty of creating the rules or discriminating against non-guests.

bensyd

The Commission cannot create laws beyond the scope of the Legislation. It enforces the Legislation, and acts as a tribunal in certain circumstances. An AMP is really just a system using various parts of the Legislation as the Commission believes is necessary.

It would certainly be incorrect to say that the NT is governed by decree. They have an elected Territory assembly, as does the ACT.

thadocta

^

Another backup to my point that the NT is governed by legislation, not be decree, as anyone who lives here would know.

Dave

SQ421

ACT would perhaps do well to be ruled by a decree...... Just Quietly

Christopher

The details of plenty of public matters are decided by regulation under relevant government legislation: if it were not so, governments would grind to a halt. In other cases, matters are worked out by local government decree. (In the English legal system, and I imagine most others, local governments don't legislate, but they decide on plenty of matters, such as local planning, whether a restaurant can put tables and chairs on the pavement outside the premises, and so on and so on.)

So I don't think that this situation in the NT is particularly unusual, it is just the particular rules that seem bizarre (to outsiders, at least).

davistev

After thinking about this for a while I have come to the conclusion that the Ayers Rock Resort rule requiring that "all consumers of alcohol be guests" is a rule designed to limit consumption of alcohol by non-guests.

Sounds obvious but one must ask why a profit oriented corporation would want to prohibit sales to outside tourists (non-guests) visiting the Rock?

There is no other venue to buy a beer at Yulara other than the resort. They have a 100% monopoly.

In my mind - perhaps they do not want to have the local Aboriginals visit the resort for drinks and evening entertainment. Therefore, it would be easier to just ban all non-guests.