KEY POINTS:
Police calls to end 24-hour liquor licensing in central Auckland would threaten efforts to earn the city a reputation for First World hospitality, says Mayor John Banks.
"The police want us to shut the city down. That's not going to happen ... this is an international city," he said yesterday.
Mr Banks said the police would be struggling to get the council to reverse its position, especially as they originally supported 24-hour licensing.
He noted that the police had also supported the lowering of the drinking age from 20 to 18.
"What is reaped has to be sown ... as I predicted."
Concerns about high levels of alcohol-fuelled violence have prompted Auckland police to recommend ending 24-hour licensing in the inner city, and instead having bars, pubs and clubs closed by 3am.
They also want a lock-out period under which people would be banned from entering bars after 1am, and off-licence premises to cease trading at 11pm.
Inspector Rob Abbott yesterday told the Auckland City Council's city development committee that in areas where there was a high concentration of bars, many inebriated people came out on to the streets, bumping into one another and starting fights.
Hotspots included Elliott St and High St, he said.
"People come into contact with each other intoxicated and that's where the violence starts ... With more concentration there are more problems."
In a report presented to the committee the police said violent crime had risen in Auckland City by 25 per cent between 1998 and last year.
Central Auckland had a much higher proportion of violence between 11pm and 5am than the rest of the country.
Police believed that the 24-hour licensing in the central business district was contributing to the rise in violence by attracting large numbers of young people into town.
They urged the council to show leadership in reducing alcohol-related harm by reviewing its district plan to reduce liquor-trading hours.
Mr Banks said the problem was with a minority, "a delinquent element of society hell bent on going out on a set night, getting pissed and causing trouble for the police".
But a lot of good people were minding their own business, having a good time and drinking responsibly.
Mr Banks said he would co-operate with police in a zero-tolerance stance on anti-social behaviour such as "people hitting people on the head with a bottle".
"But we won't shut down Auckland as they shut down Beirut and Johannesburg in the interest of safety."
The mayor wanted Auckland to have a reputation for First World hospitality and to "make sure that works" as the city headed towards the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
"We don't want to be seen going backwards."
Mr Banks later told the Herald that irresponsible hosts would face the consequences if caught breaching the terms of liquor licences with actions such as serving drunk customers.
The council had undercover agents working with its licensing division to monitor bars, but there was always room for improvement.
"Our licensing inspectors will put licensees' feet to the fire."
Mr Banks said the council was finding the problems were not widespread and offenders were in the minority.
Mr Abbott said there was already zero tolerance from the police and 300 per cent more people had been apprehended for breaching liquor bans since October.
He later told the Herald that the central business district was the only part of metropolitan Auckland with 24-hour licensing.
That was a magnet for people such as those who came to Karangahape Rd after outlets closed in other areas.
"If you want to see hospitality, it's best you don't go down to the CBD at 5am ... You will be shocked at what you see."
The Hospitality Association says restricting liquor-licensing hours is a "shortsighted and impractical approach" to dealing with the alcohol-fuelled violence and disorder in the city and, if anything, would create more problems on the streets.
Its northern regional manager, Sara Tucker, said a 1am lockout policy, if introduced, would result in a rush of people trying to get into bars, with the potential for things to turn nasty when bouncers had to start turning people away.
Then, at 3am when everything closed, a flood of people would spill on to the streets.
"The taxi services wouldn't be able to cope with it."
Miss Tucker felt a bigger issue was the availability of cheap liquor in supermarkets.
She said targeting that would help eliminate many of the problems police were facing.
