Moving goal posts !

When a smoking ban was proposed for clubs and pubs the state government handled it badly. For months there was procrastination in deciding just what criteria would apply to a ventilated area where smoking would be allowed.

Eventually it was decided that at least one complete side of such an area had to be open - and in effect this seemed a reasonable definition of a verandah.

Clubs and pubs literally spent millions of dollars trying to satisfy both the law and the demand of their smoking patrons. Despite this expenditure the smoking ban has been a financial disaster for the industry. Patronage of bar and dining facilities have dropped sharply - and poker machine players have stayed away in droves.

Now this whole legal smoking area concept has been overturned. This week Justice Peter McClellan ruled in the New South Wales Supreme court that the smoking area provided by the Dubbo RSL club did not meet the legal requirements approved by parliament.

McClellan agreed that it provided a twenty-five percent open area - but contended that in his view there should not be any form of roofing confining the escape of tobacco smoke.

In effect, this ruling condemns all roofed smoking areas. The Dubbo RSL has already spent $ 4 million complying with this law and like most other clubs and pubs may find it impossible for practical reasons to remove the offending roof.

This tends to raise the question of just who is running this state. The elected parliament passed a law that clearly stipulated the parameters for smoking areas and now a court has seen fit to move the goal posts.

The club and pub industries have every right to expect the protection of parliament. They have spent millions of dollars in good faith and it is reasonable to expect that if Justice McClellan's ruling stands many will be unable to make further modifications to remain within the law. As a result, many who are precariously on the edge of economic failure will go to the wall.

The question seems to be whether a judge has the right to impose a health ruling in a matter in which he has no formal medical qualifications - or whether the parliament elected by the people has the right to determine what degree of medical risk it is prepared to countenance.

In these difficult economic times a swift decision is imperative !