One of the things many Brits miss when they move here is the cosy British pub. As many people have remarked, Australian drinking establishments can leave a lot to be desired - at least in Sydney. Giant, soulless drinking barns and sports bars, or tacky dives dominated by pokies [fruit machines].
Then Sydneysiders started to notice that their arch rivals the Melburnians were actually enjoying European-style wine bars tucked down little lanes in the city centre. In fact Melbourne seems to have a whole lot more nice small bars that cater for everyone - not just hardcore drinkers and gamblers.
The reason is that the pub scene in Sydney until now has been dominated by a powerful closed shop - the pub owners group known as the "Hotels Association", who pay truckfuls of money to the ruling Labor Party to maintain their very profitable stanglehold on pub ownership. They do this by making the government charge an exhorbitant $50,000 for a licence to serve a glass of wine with your meal.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, the long suffering people of NSW have revolted and
demanded an end to this rort [look that word up]. We want nice cosy bars and we want them now - and not for $50 grand, thank you.
The good news is that the NSW state government looks set to allow this - so we can at last look forward to some decent drinking places in Sydney.
In fact, we should invite more British migrants to open up some British-style locals in Sydney. In the meantime, support the
Raise the Bar campaign ...
cheers!
maybe they could add Licensee's to the "required trades" listings?
