Board of Inquiry into the Sale of Packaged Beer

Full description

The Board was constituted under an Order-in-Council dated 3 June 1976. Terms of reference involved determining whether:

the sale of packaged beer in sealed containers, bottles and cans at prices below those recommended by the Australian Hotels Association and the Retail Liquor Merchants Association of Australia was inconsistent with objectives set out in Section 3 of the Liquor Control Act 1968 (which generally protection, improvement and development of the liquor industry) and
any action to be taken if such an inconsistency was demonstrated.

The Board was set up following the revocation of the Liquor Control (Orderly Marketing) Regulations 1975 on 25 May 1976 on the grounds that they contravened the powers conferred by the Liquor Control Act. The general purpose of the regulations was to empower the liquor Control Commission to fix the minimum price which packaged beer could be sold by licensed persons.

The Board comprised a sole member, Lancelot Stanley Brokenshire, a member of the Liquor Control Commission. Public Hearings were held on 21 days between 28 June and 21 July 1976 during which time evidence was heard from 46 witnesses and 49 exhibits were tendered. The report was submitted on 27 August 1976.

The Board concluded that the sale of discounted packaged beer was inconsistent with the objectives of the Act and was detrimental to members of the liquor industry. It was recommended that the Liquor Control Act be amended to allow the Liquor Control Commission to determine a fixed minimum retail price per single unit for packaged beer. This was subsequently achieved on 7 December 1976 with the passing of the Liquor Control (Orderly Marketing) Act 1976 which amended the Act through the addition of a new Section 11A.

The records of the Board of Inquiry have been registered as VPRS 7709. Files relating to the minimum price determinations by the Liquor Control Commission have been registered as VPRS 7736.

Location of Records

See below and List of Holdings, second edition 1985, section 14.0.0.