Saving our Australian pubs
In the good old UK, 2,450 pubs have closed since smoking bans were introduced in 2007 and continue to close at around 50 per week, with anti smoking laws being the straw that broke the camels back. It’s having a profound effect on the social fabric of the country, and people are not happy. A poll in the UK prior to bans being introduced showed 70% of people didn't want total bans, but in an all to frequent sign in our "democracy" people are ignored.
We all understand the importance of pubs as gathering places in our culture and community. The Australian country pub in particular plays an important role in community activities and governments need to view pubs in a different light, we need more of them, not less, smaller, and profitable public houses, and not tax cash cows. Most pubs are small, family owned businesses and play a valuable role in the cohesion of our communities, and they need protecting.
My personal experience with a country pub in Tasmania tells a common story. Cool evening, everybody standing outside, yet inside a roaring fire warmed the bar. The barman walked in, he was also the owner, and told me the story of trying to sell his pub due to smoking restrictions, but couldn’t. His intention was to simply close the pub, he was sad about leaving his little county town, and his was the only pub in the area ! This is simply wrong, and most of us know it.
We can’t get any figures on Australian pub closures and jobs lost since the introduction of smoking bans here. but I should think it’s been a disaster state governments will not admit to.
I am hoping this site will allow pub, club and bar owners to tell their story, and let us know how it effects their business. If the Australian Hotels Association had the information we now have, the fight against these laws would have been greater, or maybe not !
The bans were based on the false science that passive smoking effects workers, yet there is no such proof. We were all absolutely conned by faceless health industry automatons we believed. It was never about protecting workers, and all about ideology and the temperance movement.
Consider the science that said cancer risk is increased 25% for passive smokers, sounds convincing doesn’t it ? But what they didn’t tell you, is that if you drink full cream milk three times a day, your cancer risk increases 100%, or eating cured meat 78%. All these faceless, taxpayer funded morons did, was sell the 25%, and we were sucked in, it’s called spin. Statistics can mean whatever you want, and when you’re a spin doctor from the “ban everything council” your job depends on telling a few porkies.
So I hope all you pub and venue owners, including the many that have been sent to the wall, understand that all your hard work, staff sackings, and struggle, is caused by a lie. This isn’t the end, just the beginning of the end, many more regulations are on the cards, eventually seeing the end of our pubs.
It’s time a few home truths were made public, and one aspect of our media campaign will be exposing the real effects of the bans on our pubs, and the social consequences for both owners and the public.
We ask all pub and venue owners to contact us with their stories, and as we progress, help us to spread the message. You may feel the fight is already over, but you’re wrong, it’s just beginning.
We need to save our pubs, our friendly pub lifestyle, not just sit back and allow lobby groups to destroy what is, an Australian way of life.
Click here to have your say
Mel Gibson - has been known to have a drink, and likes a cigar. |
