Wehi [2006] NZLLA 1134 (21 December 2006)

Last Updated: 28 January 2012

Decision No. PH 1134/2006

IN THE MATTER of the Sale of Liquor Act 1989

AND

IN THE MATTER of an application by NATASHA WEHI pursuant to s.123 of the Act for renewal of a General Manager’s Certificate

BEFORE THE LIQUOR LICENSING AUTHORITY

Chairman: District Court Judge E W Unwin
Member: Ms P A Ballard

HEARING at ROTORUA on 15 December 2006

APPEARANCES

Miss N Wehi – applicant
Mrs H S Donaldson – NZ Police – in opposition

ORAL DECISION OF THE AUTHORITY

[1] This is an application for renewal of a General Manager’s Certificate by Natasha Wehi. Ms Wehi was first granted her General Manager’s Certificate on 26 September 2005, and this is the first renewal of the certificate following the initial ‘probationary’ year.

[2] There was opposition to the application from the Police. Miss Wehi had indicated that she had used her certificate at licensed premises known as “Whiskey Jacks” and the “Club Bar”. The information that the Police had received was that she was no longer working at those premises.

[3] As stated in previous decisions, we believe that certificates should be working documents. That they are not issued in a vacuum. What is required is the committed support of an employer who is anxious to support an application for the continuation of a General Manager’s Certificate and keen for the applicant to manage the premises on his or her own.

[4] There were other issues brought up in the hearing relating to a robbery alleged to have occurred in early October 2006 at licensed premises known as the “Club Bar”. The information we have received is that Miss Wehi was working as the duty manager at the time and was spoken to about the incident. The Police were not entirely satisfied with the results of the interviews, a number of different factual accounts have been given. Attempts have been made to contact Miss Wehi without success. We understand that following the hearing, an interview will now take place.

[5] Whether or not Miss Wehi is involved in the incident is a matter for the future. The Police have recognised that the hearing of the renewal application may not necessarily be the appropriate place in which to continue with the investigation. However the issue of potential involvement with a robbery casts something of a cloud over Miss Wehi’s suitability. However, the main concern is her lack of employment within the industry at this time. We propose therefore with the consent of all the parties to adjourn the proceedings for six months.

[6] There are two matters to be resolved. The first is that Miss Wehi needs to obtain employment in the industry and have the support of an employer who is prepared to trust her to manage licensed premises on her own with all the responsibilities that this entails. The second outstanding issue is that the investigation should be completed within that period of time. Either proceedings will be taken against Miss Wehi, or not, as the case may be. We will receive reports from the monitoring agencies after a period of six months and will either issue a decision on the papers or call for a further public hearing. We note that Miss Wehi has made application for a Licence Controller Qualification by way of the transition test, and a copy of that certificate will need to be on the file by the time the matter is revisited.

ADDENDUM

[7] After the above decision had been given to the parties, we left Miss Wehi to carry out a further interview with a Detective. We were subsequently advised that she had declined to do so (as was her right) and left the building. In doing this, she changed the impression that she left us with, that she was keen to co-operate with the Police. It seemed to us that any attempt to resolve these matters was treated with a complete lack of respect or interest, and impacts on her suitability to continue to hold the certificate. In the circumstances, we believe that the period of time to resolve the above matters should be reduced to three months. We request further reports in March 2007.

DATED at WELLINGTON this 21st day of December 2006

______________________
B M Holmes
Deputy Secretary

Natasha Wehi.doc(aw)