TRUTH TELLING

From The CEO

ANNA MOELLER

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Hotels are not an unhealthy industry.

That message, delivered by Premier Peter Malinauskas during a recent speech, is transformational after years of unfounded attacks on pubs by vocal minorities with prohibitionist mentalities.

Allow me to quote the Premier’s words exactly, as he addressed hundreds of hotel staff and owners:

“You make going to the pub a valued proposition for tens of thousands of families every single night of the week.

“Going to the pub is accessible.

“Going to the pub provides a sense of community.

“Going to the pub allows you to sit down with your own kids, like I do at mine most weekends, and have a conversation in a way that is utterly healthy.

“Going to the pub means hanging out with mates rather than hanging out at home, playing around on your phone.

“And that is good.

“There is nothing unhealthy about this industry.

“It makes a valuable contribution, not just to the economy but to our social fabric.”

COMMUNITY

Our industry plays an important role in keeping the community healthy in so many ways. Not just mental health and wellbeing when friends go out and have a chat, commiserate or celebrate. Our hotels are the dependable sponsor of so many community activities, from the netball club and football club to fundraisers and supporting local charities that would otherwise find it impossible to survive.

We are not an employer with one or two large factories. Our staff –whose numbers are equivalent to the population of Mount Gambier – are employed right across South Australia. And as a major decentralised employer, hotels contribute to the economic health of local communities.

TAX

That’s why the twice-yearly tax hike on alcohol needs to end. It is pricing people out of pubs and into unregulated environments.

It’s important, as the Premier recognised, that people visit pubs – with all of their benefits and safeguards - as opposed to sitting on a couch and drinking at home.

The beer tax is a tax on socialising. It’s a tax on mental health and wellbeing.

And as people stop visiting their local because it has become too expensive, it as a tax on jobs.

REGULATED V UNREGULATED

Of course, we are ever mindful thatfor a small and reducing percentage of the population - we're dealing with potentially harmful products (just as cars are if you don't drive them properly).

That’s why we are so highly regulated by government regulations and have our own codes of conduct to self-regulate. We lead the nation in responsible service of alcohol training, harm minimisation around gaming and so on.

This is in stark contrast to the scourge of illegal drugs and kids ‘playing’ on illegal casino sites on their phone where nobody can see them.

The AHA|SA has been active in developing a raft of services that contribute to the social and economic health of South Australia. We have actively sought funding to provide an ever-growing raft of services for everything from mental health support, financial

and management training, hotelspecific sustainability guides and so on. We have joined the We’re Equal movement and we are proud of our Bystander Intervention training.

There's nothing unhealthy about it. There can be incredibly positive things, but we are mindful. Yes.

GOOD FOR THE SOUL

It’s fitting that I end this column with some more words from the Premier, as he addressed members and hotel staff at our recent awards night:

“So when David (Basheer) talks about our challenge and our tackle of social media tech diets, I make no apologies.

“Because it is always good for the soul to be hanging out with a friend over a frothy and sharing a few ideas in good times and in bad.

“And you facilitate that, and you make it accessible and affordable with a sense of community at your heart.”

“To that end, I just want to pass on my genuine appreciation. You know, when it comes to Gather Round and all these other events, the one thing that people talk about more than anything else isn't so much the footy, it's the sense of hospitality and the sense of welcome they experience when they come across the border.

“We (government) don't make that happen.

“You make that happen and you do our state proud.”

You make going to the pub a valued proposition for tens of thousands of families every single night of the week.