ACT Opposition to rail against plans to use minors in booze sting operations

While the ACT government's new liquor laws passed with support of all three parties in the ACT Legislative Assembly on Thursday, the Canberra Liberals said they would oppose the clause about compliance testing when the details of the legislation are debated next sitting.

Shadow attorney-general Jeremy Hanson said the proposal raised questions about the abuse of entrapment powers and the ethics of sending a minor to effectively commit a crime.

"We believe that is an unsafe and unsatisfactory solution," Mr Hanson said.

Comparing compliance testing for alcohol and cigarettes, Mr Hanson said, "It's also very different to send a minor into Woollies to buy tobacco or liquor than it is going into a nightclub, which may be the case with the application of these laws.

"Although we support the intent of stopping the sale of alcohol to minors, we do not support the methodology."

But Attorney-General Gordon Ramsay said it only counted as entrapment if an official induced the vendor to commit an offence they ordinarily would not have.

"A controlled purchase operation does not amount to entrapment where the conduct involved in attempting to purchase the regulated goods does not amount to an improper inducement and the manner in which the operation is undertaken is in all circumstances fair," Mr Ramsay said.

"As with all controlled purchase operations, the onus will be on the regulator, Access Canberra, to ensure any evidence gathered in admissible. The courts remain the proper vehicle to ensure the proper conduct of law enforcement officers involved in varying undercover activities. There's no fundamental reason why the compliance testing scheme proposed would present any legal difficulty in this regard."

The Liberals' were also skeptical of the expanded powers for the commissioner, who could force licensees to install security cameras around their venue and impose licence conditions like earlier closing times and no glass after midnight.

"This was described in our consultation as the risk of individual lock outs without proper process," Mr Hanson said.

However the party accepted the commissioner's discretionary powers were so the government did not need to take a "lowest common denominator" approach and impose lockout laws across the board, Mr Hanson said.

He said they would will keep an eye on how the new powers were applied to make sure they were being used appropriately.

Under the new laws, businesses that buy more than $3 million of alcohol a year would see their licence fees increased by between 5 and 20 per cent, with the extra funds funnelled into an education program about responsible drinking.

Venues which shut before 2am and can only hold up to 150 people would see their fees cut by 25 per cent.

The laws would firm up vendors' rights to evict drunk patrons from their venues and make it an offence for punters to try and re-enter the premises or hang around.