KEY POINTS:
This is a tale of a former Prime Minister, an incumbent Lord Mayor and a reforming professor. More significantly, it's a tale about liquor licensing laws in Sydney.
Former Prime Minister Paul Keating really kicked off the debate about the ability of his home city's citizens to enjoy a drink in civilised surroundings.
The contrast was with Melbourne. The principal Keating targets were the powerful lobbies to be found in the liquor industry, particularly the Australian Hotels Association, which have been generous contributors to both political parties in New South Wales.
As usual, the former Labor leader, once described by disgraced publisher Conrad Black as having "a tongue which could clip a hedge", did not miss.
Keating argued that the "hotel warlords" should simply be brushed aside. He was scathing in his description of the drinker's lot in Sydney. As the Sydney Morning Herald quoted the former PM: "The pub culture in Sydney is stultifyingly bad. It's raucous and it's noisy in their Klondike-like saloons. All that's missing is Lola Montez. The idea that you have to go into these swills to get a drink and not in some more beguiling place is a shame."
Then came the killer lines: "Melbourne has got a level of sophistication Sydney doesn't have. You don't get all this guffawing and noise."
Now, it's arguable that the reference to Lola Montez could have been replaced by one to Marlene Dietrich, singing about "the boys in the backroom" in the classic movie Destry Rides Again.
But otherwise the former PM is absolutely on the money. His remarks were backed up by several leading Sydney chefs, including Neil Perry from Rockpool, who referred to the absurdity of the present liquor laws.
Enter Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore, who is also the Independent State MP for Bligh.
The Lord Mayor gave notice that she would be seeking to introduce a Private Member's Bill to amend the state's liquor licensing laws to provide for smaller, more intimate bars such as those that characterise central Melbourne.
The Lord Mayor's proposal would introduce liquor licensing approvals costing only $500 for establishments catering to a maximum of 120 patrons. One of her objectives was to eliminate the bizarre "drink or dine" laws.
As Moore said: "Currently, restaurants have to obtain a dine-or-drink authority to serve alcohol without meals, which can cost up to $15,500 and require food service to at least 70 per cent of customers."
The State Government appears yet to be persuaded, perhaps more because of an unwillingness to concede that a very good idea had originated outside the government than because of the idea itself.
But business was not slow in coming forward to endorse the Lord Mayor's initiative. Ken Morrison, of the Property Council, made it very clear that this was an issue of concern to Sydney's business community.
He wrote: "Steep licensing fees of up to $15,500 mean that small bars are priced out of Sydney. What's more, in this city - with its magnificent views and great climate - restaurants are not free to allow patrons to enjoy a glass of wine without having to go through the fiction of ordering a plate of food.
"So why does big business back small bars? Because the whole rationale for a central business district is human interaction.
"The heady mix of creativity, proximity and prestige is the unique selling proposition of a CBD compared to a suburban location. That's why businesses are prepared to pay big rents to locate there, why tourists flock there and why people want to socialise there."
The arguments for reform are persuasive. Westfield, Australia's largest shopping centre enterprise, has also been active on the issue. This brings us to the professor.
Westfield is working on a major retailing redevelopment in Sydney's central business district, emphasising that liquor licensing is not central to its business plan. However, Westfield has been actively sponsoring work by Professor John Niewenhuysen, who was the reforming intellect behind Victoria's licensing changes of 20 years ago.
Westfield commissioned the professor to write a paper on New South Wales liquor licensing laws, with a view to appreciating the implications for its $600 million investment in the Sydney CBD.
Professor Niewenhuysen's paper argues compellingly for change to Sydney's liquor licensing laws to mirror what happened in Melbourne nearly a generation ago: for liberalisation and for a range of alternative offerings.
The professor's work has attracted the interest of the Committee for Sydney, which this writer chairs.
There is no question that the Melbourne experience has been successful. Smaller bars in streets and laneways have proliferated, each offering patrons a different experience, often in a quiet and subdued atmosphere, where the civilising experience of conversation can again be the dominant factor.
The professor put it in these terms: "As in Melbourne, in the years following 1988 and the enormous expansion of industry numbers, so in Sydney it is likely with liberalisation that licensees would be able to realise the benefit from the decor, size, trading profile and ambience of European-style cafes, bars and restaurants.
"In Melbourne, as could occur in Sydney with liberalisation, restaurants, cafes and bars were able to break away from the previous stereotypical format under the new laws."
So the stage has been set, as Sydney takes a hard look at itself after hours. The hotel industry is a powerful force in the state's politics.
What's more, the Melbourne comparison has irritated some state MPs. Thus NSW Tourism Minister Matt Brown dismissed Melbourne, telling the Sydney Morning Herald: "Melbourne can carry on as much as they like about their small bars but it's not winning them any favours in the international market."
But reform is only a matter of time. The pressure for liberalisation and to provide greater diversity of drinking and dining experiences in Sydney is very strong and will become overwhelming.
So it should be. The citizens of Sydney, along with interstate and international visitors, are entitled to a civilised range of experiences and not simply the present pub culture, dominated by poker machines and numbing rock music.
Melbourne has got this right.
Policymakers in Sydney eventually will reach the same conclusion. The days of Lola Montez are surely numbered, if not Marlene Dietrich, singing suggestively in The Blue Angel.
* Stephen Loosley, a former federal president of the Labor Party and Australian senator, chairs business advocacy group Committee for Sydney.
