While it may seem counter intuitive to make it easier for some venues to obtain liquor licences while you are trying to cut down on alcohol related violence that doesn't mean it doesn't make sense.
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The smaller, "boutique" style, venues who stand to gain most under the ACT government liquor law reform package this week aren't the types of places targeted by "pre-loaded" thugs in search of a bit of biff as part of their early morning out on the tiles.
The larger venues are actually going to be asked to contribute more.
The intention, apparently, is to redirect some of that money into a program to encourage responsible drinking.
Whether or not the hooligans who have contributed to the perception Garema Place and other parts of the Civic nightlife precinct are becoming more dangerous are receptive to such an approach is another matter.
This is why the ACT government's moves to beef up the laws specifying acceptable street behaviour and allow the Fair Trading Commissioner to require licensees to install security cameras around their venues are to be welcomed. It seems a sensible mix of hoping for the best while preparing for the worst.
The same can be said for plans to give the FTC the power to include special conditions, such as bans on glass vessels and shots after midnight, as well as giving vendors more clearly defined, and therefore stronger, rights to evict drunks.
Under the package, which was introduced into the Legislative Assembly on Thursday, it would be an offence for an evicted reveller to either try to re-enter or to hang around outside.
While nobody wants to live in a blue stockinged "wowser state", the sad fact is recent history here and in other parts of the country has shown leaving drunks to sort matters out for themselves with minimal intervention from either the state or the licencees is not a good way to go.
Those individuals, including a number of recent correspondents to this newspaper's opinion pages, who hold the view that Civic is more dangerous now than just a few years ago seem to have a case.
A review of the liquor laws carried out in 2014 discovered, somewhat predictably, CBD assaults peaked between midnight and 6am and that young people "preloading" with booze before heading out was a factor.
Crime statistics reported in March last year indicated assaults in Civic were up by a third on the previous year. On March 7 this year we reported at least one person on average a day was being assaulted in Civic with attacks up by 40 per cent overall.
If the measures now under consideration do not make a dent in this problem it may be necessary for the government to consider going further than the measures now being put forward.
