stay order granted by supreme court

A long day of complicated legal argument in the Supreme Court ended just after 3:15 pm today when the Judge granted the liquor licence cancellation stay order pending the hearing of both "leave to appeal" & the actual appeal commencing Tuesday 14th June 2011.

This decision means that BAR20 will not be singing "THE CLUB WITH NO BEER" after midnight tonight when the VCAT decision of 4th May 2011 was to take effect.

PPN's barrister was brilliant today and gave those shareholders present some confidence that PPN can actually win this appeal.

One of the main concerns, now resolved, was that the bouncers, sorry, crowd controllers, caused a lot of the problems for PPN such as punching customers etc. We heard that the company that provided those bouncers has been sacked and the new crowd control company appointed about a month ago has been very effective.

If I heard right, PPN is to conduct an audit of BAR20 with a view to "getting it right". This is great news for shareholders.

PPN has many mum & dad minority shareholders who have never set foot in a strip club but bought shares in a legitimate business as an investment. They stood to lose their investment if BAR20 closed its doors.

There were also around 150 staff/stakeholders who may have lost their jobs at midnight tonight if BAR20 closed.

Having said that, a shareholder told me he went to BAR20 last night and spoke to one of the girls who had worked in the USA. She told him that it against the law for the US strip clubs to serve liquor but patrons here like to have a glass in their hands as they watch the girls perform at BAR20.

This is very interesting as the loss of the liquor licence doesn't necessarily mean the end for BAR20, particularly if all the other King St strip clubs were to lose their licences.

Without income from liquor sales, clubs would have to use some lateral thinking to bring back the paying customers and make a profit.

I note that the Daily Planet and all the other brothels are not allowed to have a liquor licence. If the brothels can make a profit without liquor, so can the strip clubs.

Congratulations to PPN's barrister who did a brilliant job today against a formidable legal team who argued strongly against the stay order.

Stay tuned for developments & note the 14th June court date in your diaries.