Matthew Watts, Liberal for Ginninderra, completes the Lego Challenge

Respect to Matt… He’s a good guy, met him a few times..

Re: social venues – I’d like to see more live music. Apparently licensing or insurance costs go up if you have live music. Personally, I’d prefer a guy with a guitar to the sound of pokies any day.

But I guess live music is less attractive from a fund raising point of view 😉

As Johnboy mentions in the main post, I assisted Matt in the Lego Challenge at the Basement on Tuesday night, and my back is still killing me from hunching over lego bins searching for that one piece, for three hours!  I did this as friend of Matts and it had nothing to do with ACT Light Rail, or the Belconnen Community Council. I am not a member of the liberal party, and I came to know Matt through our work on the Belconnen Community Council and his attendance at ACT Light Rail meetings. 

I am happy to describe him as a personal friend, and when he asked for assistance I was happy to provide it. I believe we need good people in the Assembly and Matt is a good person. Several of the people Matt has helping him in his run at the Assembly are in fact life long labor supporters. They told me they had always voted labor, but Matt is a friend and they wanted to help. I think that speaks volumes.

My friendship with Matt didn’t stop me from asking him to publicly commit to building light rail in the next term at last night’s Gungahlin Community Council ‘Ginninderra Candidates’ meeting (Al Kerlin liveblogged this on facebook) , where he towed the party line about their proposed Infrastructure Canberra prioritising those types of decisions. 
 
I can’t comment on what the Canberra Liberals’ official policy announcement on Liquor Laws will be.  Matt once told me there is a timetable for policy announcements, so I guess we’ll have to wait and see what they all are.  I’m presuming his participation in the Lego Challenge won’t impact the Libs’ policy announcement timetable.
 
For those who doubt Matt’s personal commitment to the issue of Liquor Law Reform, let me say this:  he perhaps did more to fight the current legal framework than any other non-liquor license owning private individual (I don’t have visibility of what MLAs or CEOs of various industry bodies did). 

In 2010 or so, he invited most if not all ACT publicans to a meeting in Belconnen to discuss the proposed laws, and what the faults were.  Quite a few pubs were represented.  I attended representing the Belconnen Community Council, and one of Matt’s other contacts from Neighbourhood Watch attended to listen to the publicans’ concerns.  Vicki Dunne was also there.
 
As a result of that meeting, Matt and a delegation of publicans met with Shane Rattenbury to inform him of the problems.  Matt also tried to meet with Corbell, to no avail.  I guess the Minister was too busy to listen to the industry. Not being able to meet with the Minister is a problem that ACT Light Rail have also had. I find this ACT Government only really consult with people who hold the same views as they do – a process which brings about great outcomes for the community.
 
Matt made a number of submissions to the ACT Government.  I found this one particularly entertaining, but equally intelligent:  http://www.justice.act.gov.au/resources/attachments/Review_of_Liquor_Fees_-_Watts.pdf

Fingers crossed…

Diggety said :

reducing the liquor licensing costs to small venues

Like.

+1 and looong overdue.

* Expansion of small (responsible) business
* Contraction of Canberra’s quasi casino culture (SuperClubs)
* Wider distribution of licenced premises (a local pub on your corner – remember that?)
* More social drinking culture
* More venues for bands, etc.

In every other city where small businesses have been liberated by less licensing, the above changes are observed.

Whoever gets in, get onto it.

Frankly, these are things that needs to be done in this town.

The obsession with glitzy but souless clubs full of pokies is killing the community. Clubs are like the Bunnings of boozers, cheap, clean, but really, just another supermarket stealing your dollar.

And the ALP is addicted to them, so much it would seem that they really don’t care about small pubs.

A question to Mr Watts: Can you do this?Will you pursue these policies? Is this liberal party policy? If not will you simply end up toeing the party line rather than following these policies?

I refuse to vote for anyone who is simply going to toe a party line.

And therein lies the real question – is it a thought bubble or is it party policy?

Diggety said :

reducing the liquor licensing costs to small venues

Like.

+1 and looong overdue.

* Expansion of small (responsible) business
* Contraction of Canberra’s quasi casino culture (SuperClubs)
* Wider distribution of licenced premises (a local pub on your corner – remember that?)
* More social drinking culture
* More venues for bands, etc.

In every other city where small businesses have been liberated by less licensing, the above changes are observed.

Whoever gets in, get onto it.

Frankly, these are things that needs to be done in this town.

The obsession with glitzy but souless clubs full of pokies is killing the community. Clubs are like the Bunnings of boozers, cheap, clean, but really, just another supermarket stealing your dollar.

And the ALP is addicted to them, so much it would seem that they really don’t care about small pubs.

A question to Mr Watts: Can you do this?Will you pursue these policies? Is this liberal party policy? If not will you simply end up toeing the party line rather than following these policies?

I refuse to vote for anyone who is simply going to toe a party line.

Dam good questions… I’d like to hear solid and promising answers.

Multi level carpark..

Libs win

Heavy metal soundtrack may be the only meaningful way to differentiate local pollies … I might cast a valid vote in this election yet …

I worked with matt a few years ago, seriously one of the most stand up guys I’ve met in a long long time.

i think that’s quite clever and well designed

johnboy said :

Who needs a bicycle when you’ve got a ton ton?

Please! It’s a Tauntaun!