After a long day at the Supreme Court on Monday, leave to appeal the decision of VCAT Deputy President Aird's decision of 2 August 2012 was refused on the grounds there were no errors of law.
The VCAT re-trial is listed to commence on Thursday 23 August before Judge McNamara.
The first proceeding is based on s 95(1) of the Liquor Control Reform Act 1998 (‘Act’). Section 95(1) provides that, if a licensing inspector considers that the continuation in force of a licence would detract from or be detrimental to the area in which the licensed premises are situated, he or she may apply to the VCAT for an order cancelling or suspending the licence.
The second proceeding is based on s 90 of the Act. Section 90(1)(j) provides that a licensing inspector may apply to the VCAT to conduct an inquiry into a licensee where he or she considers that the licensee ‘has conducted the business under the licence ... or allowed it to be conducted ... in a manner that detracts from or is detrimental to the amenity of the area in which the licensed premises are situated’.
This is not looking good for PPN as it is very unlikely VCAT will make the same errors of law that they made last time in the decision of 4 May 2011. Costs follow the event so this is going to be a very expensive trial for the loser running into hundreds of thousands of dollars.
In my humble opinion, the company can still be saved if the PPN CEO takes full responsibility and resigns immediately from the board. There are also two other directors who could cancel the CEO's service contract if they had the will to do so.
PPN Price at posting:
15.0¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Held
