Tales from the Past - a look at the history of HANZ Chapters 8-9

Chapter 8:

Canterbury Province celebrated their centennial in 1950. Christchurch City hosted the first ever two day ULVA conference in the Pioneer Amateur Sports Club premises in Gloucester Street. The Mayor of Christchurch, a sprightly 77 year old Sir Ernest Andrews who had been mayor since 1941, opened the conference and as a former representative cricketer, teacher and business man he was well and favourably known to many of the record crowd of hoteliers who attended.

The inevitable list of those who had passed on included J D Power of the Royal Oak Hotel in Wellington, a long serving member of the emergency committee and executive council, and H B M Brookes of the Waiau Hotel in Tuatapere who had served on the executive council and been a long term assessor in award negotiations. The meeting also paid respect to Doctor Leo Dunn, son of past president Sam, recently killed in a motor accident at Te Aroha

The new Licensing Control Commission (LCC) were busy hearing submissions on various aspects of the trade throughout the country and Mr W E Leicester KC appeared for the retail sector. The new government, and in particular External Affairs Minister Hon F W Doidge, were very enthusiastic about tourism and lengthy submissions were made in respect of accommodation tariffs and the aim to de-control the industry. However, despite respectful support from the public at large, the public service sector were not impressed despite the new favourable image portrayed by the hotel sector under the dynamic leadership of Frank Drewitt. Drewitt and secretary Charles Suisted had been initial guests of the Australian Hotel Association conference in Queensland in May 1950 and reported back on the enthusiastic support being given to tourism in that country.

To be fair the LCC did support many of the hoteliers wishes despite being critical of the standard of some premises. The chairman Arthur Morice Goulding ( born 1888) was a highly regarded Stipendiary Magistrate before being appointed to the Commission and had a distinguished World War One record, winning the Military Cross in France. He had been an outstanding sportsman excelling in cricket, hockey and rowing and some of his decisions revealed a healthy respect for the trade and many licensees who were running good establishments. However, his secretary, Mr E R Graham clearly exposed his own public service background.

The waterfront strike in 1951 rather surprisingly had a negative effect on hotels despite the numbers out of work. Apart from the inevitable industrial action many essentials like linen, crockery and glassware, and of course wines and spirits, were hard to procure with the restricted import licensing quotas still in force. However Cargo was left on ships for months causing inconvenience and frustration, and to aggravate matters, when the deadlock ended import processing and distribution started again from scratch.

However, there was some good news when the industrial troubles ended. 60,000 cases of Scotch Whiskey became aged and available and at long last there was some relief for accommodation tariffs, although not for breakfast, the dearest meal of the day in terms of labour and wages. In addition President Frank Drewitt and the secretary were invited to Auckland to meet the local executive who wished to make application to rejoin the Association.

And a deputation of brewers headed by Mr B T O'Connell (later Sir Bernard) of NZB, and Walter Otto of DB, met the ULVA emergency committee and organised a joint approach to government. They were successful in obtaining a reduction of excise duty and sales tax on beer. They were ably assisted by the new chair of the National Council of the Licensed Trade, Sir William Perry (1885 -1952) another distinguished war veteran and founder of the RSA in New Zealand. A West Coaster he had also served as President of the NZRFU, the Wellington RFU, and the NZ Rowing Association but probably most importantly he was also a director of NZ Breweries. He was held in high regard by many but was known to have an aversion to some public servants. A solicitor with Perry, Perry, Wylie, Pope, he was credited with the good results over the bureaucrats when he represented the retail sector of the industry during the 1948 amendments to the Licensing Act.

The hotel industry boomed through the 1950's. Golf and bowls tournaments in the trade were popular and well patronized while the Wellington branch even managed to sponsor a young lady in the Miss New Zealand Quest. Canterbury lead the way with their own newsletter, an idea adopted from the retail motor trade and soon many other branches followed suit. Even secretary Charles Suisted was authorized to get a liquor locker to entertain important overseas or out of town visitors but not to be utilised by the emergency committee or local licensees.

When the conference went to Westport for the first time in 1951 all areas were represented including Auckland and there was keen competition for executive positions. A difference in Auckland between the association and Dominion Breweries over bottle store pricing was amicably settled by Frank Drewitt and the Auckland president H P Standing, who together went over Walter Otto's head to H J Kelliher (later Sir Henry), the founder of DB who ruled in the association's favour.

The swing away from prohibition helped the image of the industry, and though there was still industrial unrest with lock outs and pickets aimed more at brewery owned hotels than private operators, most hoteliers managed to trade comfortably.

The administration also took on a sophisticated look with the purchase of a state of the art Gestetner duplicating machine but planning for distinctive badged glassware through Crown Crystal Glassware was eventually abandoned when a deal could not be struck. It was to re-surface with some success in later years.

With annual conferences in New Plymouth in 1952 and Nelson the following year the gatherings became high lights of the hoteliers' year. With ample hospitality lavish Civic receptions and the Brewers Association formal dinners, the annual get-togethers became occasions not to be missed.

At Nelson, under General Business, relative newcomer Jim Ewart, a member of the Emergency Committee, raised the matter of life membership although there was no provision in the rules for such an appointment. It is hard to determine how or why the matter was raised, and to complicate matters there were references in previous minutes to life members. The records show that in 1924 there were three life members but they were from individual branches or unions as they were more often referred to. They were William J Coghland of the Provincial Hotel in Dunedin, Harry McManaway from the Rangitikei Hotel in Bulls and John Sutton from Christchurch. These men had obviously been honoured by their own branches and without doubt would have served the industry magnificently. But none had served on the national body or were even mentioned in the relevant minutes going back to 1902. John Sutton, reputed to be the first of the three appointed, had been part of a deputation endeavouring to keep Auckland in the national picture in the 1920's, but his was only a cameo appearance whilst passing through Auckland on his way to a holiday in New York at the same time.

There is a vague reference at one stage to "life member" James Macdonald but this too appears to have been a local appointment as he only served as an interim chair of the national body for a few months in 1924 when President Pat Brodie was unable to continue without the support of his Auckland executive. At that time Auckland and Brodie had again left the national body and the incomparable Percy Coyle of Ohingaiti became President and was an outstanding leader for the next three years before embarking on his long stint on the National Council of the NZ Licensed Trade. Macdonald was never a President of the national body but had made a worth while contribution.

It appears therefore that when Jim Ewart raised the issue at the Nelson conference, there was only one authentic life member of the national body and that was Frank J Oakes who was quite clearly accorded that honour, irrespective of rules or not, when he retired as secretary in 1941.

In any event Jim Ewart extolled at length the virtues and contribution made to the industry by Tom Coltman (Wellington), J M MacKenzie (Christchurch) and Sam Dunn (Wellington), all past national presidents, and moved that they be made life members. R E Illinqworth seconded and the motion was carried unanimously accompanied by a standing ovation and musical honours.

An amended motion was then put to include also F M Drewitt, father of Frank, of Wellington and formerly Timaru and A J Empson of Christchurch, and they too received the same accolades, so in a very small space of time in the association's history, the life membership increased from one (we think !!) to six.

Overall the Nelson conference became a very happy occasion with the bevy of new life members and the splendid Brewers formal dinner hosted by the Mayor of Nelson, Mr J A Harley, who just happened to be President of the Brewers Association and chairman of directors of Harleys Brewery based in Nelson. There was a tragic aspect with the death of the Auckland secretary Mr V K Simpson killed in an air crash on the way to conference. He had been an outstanding official and a leading light in getting Auckland back into the fold.

So enthusiastic were the new look Auckland team that they lobbied and gained the 52^nd annual conference in the Peter Pan Cabaret in 1954, the first time the conference had been held in the Queen City. The meeting mourned, among others, the passing of past president Samuel Dominic Dunn, who had has little time to enjoy the life membership he had so richly deserved.

Of serious concern was the large numbers of chartered club licenses being issued by the Commission. There were 48 original charters prior to the 1908 Act all with "off premises" rights but by the mid fifties there were 134, of which an additional 21 had been granted bottle store facilities. In Palmerston North two new charters had been granted with "off premises" rights as well as permits for women to drink in the lounge area, with a member, between 5pm and 6pm. The Palmerston North delegates had typed a late remit calling for a full enquiry into women in bars, but unfortunately in their haste they had made a small typing error. Delegates were circulated with a type written remit calling for a "full enquiry and review of women in bras !!", much to the mirth of the predominately male audience.

However, the hotel trade was hit hard by these additional chartered licenses but pressure from ULVA and the National Council resulted in the Commission ceasing to issue new chartered club licenses.

The Commission also came in for criticism regarding the lack of consistency in annual inspections, with examples of fire escapes being unsuitable one year but approved the next under a different inspector. The matter came to a head later at the Timaru conference, where Percy Coyle gained valuable publicity with a spirited address criticising the Price Tribunal and the refusal to de-control the industry. Among other topics he alluded to the unsatisfactory bureaucratic administration of annual inspections. The media and the public came out on the side of the industry with instant favourable results.

Frank Drewitt and Charles Suisted attended the newly formed Pacific and Travel Association (PATA) conference in Tokyo, and returned convinced that New Zealand was more harshly regulated and restricted than any other country represented, just as they had learned from their Australian experience in 1950. The media to their credit gave this message good mileage as well.

Good news too by way of the 1954 election and the large increased majority for continuance in New Zealand, and at the same time the later closing laws introduced into New South Wales was a good omen for the association who had been pushing the extension of trading hours cause since the end of the first war.

Not so good was the news from the Australasian Performing Rights Association (APRA). At the height of the depression in 1932 Percy Coyle negotiated a national fee of 60 pounds ($120) per annum, most of which hoteliers recovered from illegal bookmakers operating in their bars. With the introduction of the Totalisator Agency Board and legal gambling in 1951, APRA wanted the fee reviewed because of "changed circumstances" and in 1955 the annual collective fee for all members rocketed to 350 pounds ($700) which also covered live artists.

Napier hosted the 1956 conference some 20 years after the earlier visit and the magnificently restored city drew favourable comments from the large attendance. The recently completed Esplanade coloured lights were switched on especially for the occasion and the other high-light on a very small agenda was the conferring of life membership on Percy Coyle retiring as director of the National Council of the Licensed Trade. The new general secretary of the Council Mr K L Usmar gave an impressive maiden address clearly indicating that the Council was in good hands despite the end of Coyle's outstanding contribution.

Efforts were made, without success, to allow only the holders of a publicans licence be allowed to operate booths at race meetings. Although many hoteliers did have this privilege it was felt that the disgraceful standard of service and standards at race booths reflected badly on the trade because so many were operated by people without experience.

The NZ Wholesale Wine and Spirits Federation was formed in 1956 under their first president Mr H L G Macindoe and formed an amicable liaison with the association and the trade until they were eventually wound up around the end of the century.

There was a serious shortage of trained chefs and cooks through out the country and it was decided to advertise in the United Kingdom magazine "The Caterer and Hotel Keeper". This was a successful exercise and some years later the association initiated a further scheme bringing young Australian women to work in New Zealand hotels as waitresses and house and kitchen staff.

In 1957 the introduction of beer tankers and installation of tanks in hotels was welcomed by the association and also many unhappy members who had maintained for years that they were "short changed" with keg deliveries. Even the introduction of metal kegs with the weight inscribed on the barrel was found to have flaws when discrepancies were detected by irate hoteliers. The tanker with its calibrated hogs-head measured compartments had to equate exactly with the measure on the hotel tank and delivery docket, and despite a trait back towards kegs in the 1980's the tanker delivery system still works well to this day. In the 1970's some of the more enterprising breweries with the support of selected hoteliers actually transported some of the top of the range premium beers in tankers much to the disgust of the Lords and Barons of the industry in the United Kingdom.

On a visit to New Zealand in the '70's Lord Tennent, of Tennents Lager fame, was horrified to see his magnificent lager being "lugged around the colony in petrol tankers" and then completely blown away when he visited the Grand Hotel in Wellington and found the genial Jim Coltman filling flagons with the precious liquid !

At the Greymouth conference in 1957 Frank Drewitt finally stood down as president and was honoured with life membership and became the first to hold the new designation of Immediate Past President. He received many tributes for his magnificent contribution as well as an Omega gold watch and band, and an oak engraved canteen of cutlery.

His successor was John Henry Smith Hogg from Timaru, a former senior sergeant of Police and an outstanding club rugby coach. Harry, as he was known, had a formidable task following Drewitt but in his two years as President he performed credibly. Chairing the 56th conference at Palmerston North he commented wryly on the amount of people necessary to run an association in the balmy days of the late 1950's. At the top table were the President, Immediate Past President , and four vice presidents. The Emergency Committee totaled 13 and there were 37 executive council members and delegates. In addition there were ten observers, including the late Gerry Power attending his first conference, ten secretaries and Len Cronin from the "Licensee" magazine, K L Usmar from the National Council and J A Brittenden from N Z Breweries.

There were several apologies with hoteliers away overseas on holiday in such places as Australia, America and Britain prompting Harry Hogg to comment that some members must have been trading well. He did leave one legacy in his short rein. At his insistence the word union was dropped and the 21 districts as they were then, became branches. This was formalized at the next annual general meeting and are still known as branches to this day.

O'Connell's Hotel in Queenstown hosted the last conference of the 1950's and the Southland branch excelled themselves with a magnificent organized gathering opened by the Mayor Mr. R C Robins, who described his town as "the tourist gem of the South". There were few grumbles apart from the fact that there were too many Tourist House licenses, but against that there was praise for the great reduction of chartered club applications being approved.

Following on from Hogg's stance on the naming of branches instead of unions, well known Aucklander Harold Ellerington, licensee of the Ponsonby Club Hotel, known universally as The Gluepot, suggested that a sub committee be formed to look at the name of the association. Harold did not believe that ULVA or LVA were suitable in the modern age and thought that Hotel Association of New Zealand, abbreviated to HANZ would be more suitable. The motion was passed unanimously with acclamation.

Of his own accord Hogg stood down from the Presidency and although he had enjoyed the experience he felt that the President for the meantime should be based in the Capital. Jim Ewart was elected unopposed and chaired his first conference at Brents Hotel in Rotorua in October 1960, and remained president until 1972. He became the longest serving president at that time, his record eclipsed later by the late Gerry Power.

Ewart had his hands full. Charles H Suisted retired as secretary in 1960 after 19 years of dedicated service. His loyal assistant since 1952, Mrs A L Beck remained and Joseph J Williams, the newly appointed secretary, with the title of Chief Executive was introduced at the Rotorua conference. Mrs Beck and Joe Williams were to become great support for Jim Ewart and HANZ in the years ahead.

The conference paid tribute to Life Member A J Empson who had passed on and Past President Frank Drewitt and Vice President Arthur McGregor of Canterbury gave an interesting address on their attendance at the 9^th PATA conference held in Christchurch earlier in the year. T P Smale, the long serving vice president from Poverty Bay and Suisted were both honoured with life membership.

At the 1960 Parliamentary Select Committee on Licensing, HANZ's legal counsel Mr Robin B. Cooke (now Lord Cooke of Thorndon), sat through every session and in conjunction with HANZ executive, staff and members provided research and submissions and identified vital issues in support of the industry. The main focus centered around hours of trading, liquor with late meals, Sunday lunches, extended hours permits, employment of barmaids, entertainment in hotels and the inevitable competition from chartered clubs and restaurants.

The effort was worth while and a credit to Lord Cooke and the new HANZ regime. The revolutionary changes through the 1960 decade were the most dramatic and effective in the entire history of the liquor industry to that time. There can be no question that HANZ were a major player in the civilized changes that took place, and in doing so created a respectable reputation for the association and for those engaged in the industry at that time.

Chapter 9:

Joe Williams wasted no time in settling into his new position, visiting branches throughout the country and traveling to Australia on a "fact finding" mission. Rules had to be changed and constitutions checked to accommodate the association's new name change and the correct names and titles of all branches. Many of the more mundane matters like country freight, the quality and trade-in value of flagons, and toll charges in accommodation establishments, were dealt with efficiently by the Chief Executive and his emergency committee requiring the Executive Council to meet on fewer occasions, and eventually only twice a year outside conference

It was back to Christchurch again in 1961 with yet another record attendance and all 22 branches represented. Joe Williams was aiming for 100% membership and many branches had almost achieved that figure. All Tourist Hotel Corporation Hotels became members and the General Manager Mr Laurie Dennis was appointed to the HANZ full executive council.

The Corporation complemented HANZ in many ways especially in staff recruitment. THC made the Chateau and later the Hermitage available for intensive staff training schemes and HANZ members were levied to help toward the costs by paying a token amount per hogs-head of draught beer delivered to the hotel. Long serving executive member Reg Blake of Nelson organised Italian domestic staff through the St Vincent de Paul Society and F G Young of the Hotel Workers Union addressed HANZ in support of staff training schemes.

There had been criticism from the LCC about lack of good trained staff and the Government took cognizance and promised 170,000 pounds, ($340,000), to set up training schemes in the four main centres. Eight New Zealand trainees with 50% Government support went to a hotel management course at Blackpool in England and after graduation returned back to work. At least three, Dick Jones, Bill Parker and Bryan Johnson became prominent members of the hotel industry back in New Zealand. In 1968 Jim Coltman from the Grand in Wellington and Laurie Dennis of THC took advantage of the hotel management course offered by the University of Hawaii, and later the course tutor Robert Burns, a well known Hawaiian hotelier, featured as a guest speaker as the guest of HANZ in New Zealand.

Later in the early '70's five more New Zealand licensees attended the Hawaii course, including Tim Hurley of Wanganui, Jack Skelton of the Royal Oak in Wellington and Bob Henderson, all members who had served HANZ at executive level. A the same time Joe Williams attended a special two month course in Hawaii dealing with association administrative matters whilst Tom Sheehy stood in as acting CEO.

Training was taken very seriously and in late 1969 the Central Institute of Technology in Upper Hutt conducted the first New Zealand Hotel management course. The introduction of later closing had raised issues hitherto unheard of. For instance HANZ formed a public relations committee to raise the profile of the industry. A lot of money was appropriated, mainly from the glassware franchise fund, to promote the patronizing of HANZ establishments. HANZ pens, coasters and rubbish bags were issued bearing the logo "Stay in a HANZ establishment" and a tuneful melody entitled "Let's go hoteling together" could be heard on commercial radio stations throughout the country.

HANZ were fortunate to have continued and expert co-operation from K L Usmar and J W (Jim) Thompson of the National Council and Mr L J Cronin, editor of the "Licensee" magazine. Day to day issues, although mostly petty, could be destructive to an organisation that was sincerely endeavouring to create an honourable profile and at the same time instill loyalty amongst its members. Price cutting and wholesaling affected profitability but many seemed unaware of the damage it was doing to loyalty. Such was the uproar when the breweries tried to introduce 12 ounce bottles (today's stubbies), they were forced not to proceed with HANZ obtaining great support from the gentlemen mentioned.

With no price control in bottle stores HANZ were able to do a deal on New Zealand gin with the Wholesale Wine and Spirit merchants. This had been a delicate issue but Dennis Young of T & W Young, and Jack Burge manager of T G McCarthy were honourable men and reasonable allies of the retail sector, given that hoteliers were big customers of both firms. The price was settled at 32/6d ($3.25) for a quart bottle. But price control was alive and well in bars. A Wanganui hotelier was prosecuted for selling a nip of cognac for two shillings (20 cents), when the maximum allowable price was 1/3d (15 cents). HANZ declined to provide legal aid.

However, help was at hand. In 1962 de-control was achieved and in gaining this freedom the trade was warned in no uncertain terms to honour the undertaking the association had made to Government as part of the de-controlling process. At the 60^th annual conference in Wanganui, held in the magnificent Memorial Hall that many hoteliers had helped freehold, President Jim Ewart laid the law down and to the credit of members the rules were obeyed.

At the same conference tributes were paid to Life Member A J Empson, of Christchurch, executive members J P McEnaney, Westport, Trevor Williams, Auckland and Sir Ernest Davis who had all passed on. On a happier note Joe Williams and Treasurer Jim Coltman were able to report that all hotels in New Zealand -1079 in total - were financial members of HANZ for the first time in history. All had paid the stipulated subscription of one pound ($2.00).

With the National Council still contributing to the finances HANZ were in good shape. Joe Williams and his secretary, Mrs Aileen Beck, were both given pay increases and the auditor Ted Tarrant had his fee doubled. All payments were to be reviewed annually on the 1^st of April.

In 1963 a deal was struck with Crown Crystal Glass Pty Ltd to provide badged glassware exclusively for HANZ to purchase jugs, and a range of glasses with a royalty of one penny per item going into the HANZ coffers. The Government would not agree to bring in legislation to prevent the glassware being stolen or souvenired, but an agreement between the manufacturers, distributors and HANZ resulted in only financial members of HANZ being able to purchase the badged items. This would allow legal action to be taken where necessary and for some years there were successful prosecutions. Gradually the police tended to overlook glass thieves, and before too long it was hard to find a student flat anywhere in the country that had not stocked up with glassware at the start of the new term. In fact a few years later there were some red faces when, at a Parliamentary reception recognizing HANZ's effort in an appeal for milk biscuits for India, the glasses supplied by Bellamys were in fact HANZ issue!!

It was not the only disaster associated with the Milk Biscuit Appeal as the overseas rather dubious promoter failed to produce the little starving Indian boy who was going to parade through the country as an example of where the money was going to.

The president of the Australian Hotel Association, Mr J B McInerney and the New South Wales president, Mr R B White, were guests of HANZ at the 1963 conference in Dunedin. The last conference in the Edinburgh of the South in 1948 had not been a happy one and only 48 attended. On this occasion the count was over 130 and all delegates were in unity. Among the obituaries were National Council Director K L Usmar, and Dennis Young, president of the Wholesales Wine and Spirit Merchants, both great friends of HANZ. Two long serving executive members, Dan Sloan of Auckland and W H Steel of Wairarapa were honoured with life membership.

The intent of the 1962 Sale of Liquor Act was not clear and had not achieved some of the outcomes that HANZ had hoped for, despite legal fees in excess of 9,000 pounds ($18,000.00). There were indications though, following successive increasing polls for Continuance that extended hours would sooner or later be considered. A "meal" had not been defined in the legislation, but subsequent case law helped when the humble meat pie was in fact found to constitute a meal.

The 1964 Amendment did clarify some of the wine seller license provisions although again it was necessary to go to appeal to get a ruling that spirit based cocktails were not covered. The 3% intended tavern fee was the signal for a whole new change for the industry and the right for a licensee to entertain in his bar was a step in the right direction. Some members had organised private petitions for later closing but wisely HANZ disassociated itself from such ventures.

Westland had wanted to host the 1964 conference in conjunction with other celebrations, but because of the sensitive nature of legislation and the anticipated changes it was decided to stay in the capital. Not that a lot happened at the Palm Lounge of the St George Hotel during the first ever three day conference.

Samuel Thomas Barnett, CBE, JP (1901-1972) the new chair of the LCC was a guest speaker and indicated that he would perform well, which he did. However, like previous Commission members there seemed to be no understanding of the economic impact on hoteliers or the industry when upgrading was insisted upon. The "minimum standards" interpretation was hard to understand.

There were stern warnings about using the term LVA instead of HANZ, especially in golf and bowling tournaments and the word "trade" was to be substituted with "industry". The biggest worry seemed to the problem of engraving the many valuable trophies with the new title.

Ralph Hanan, Minister of Justice was guest speaker and indicated that there would be no alteration to trading hours without a referendum but if National was to hold power at the 1966 election he suggested that a referendum may then be appropriate.

The conference ended on a sad note when a Christchurch delegate Mr C H Corliss died in his sleep at the St George Hotel.

In 1965 a sub committee was set up to look at the introduction of decimal currency scheduled for 10 July 1967. Much was learned from visiting Australian Industry officials who had changed their currency a few years before New Zealand. Many Australian hoteliers, particularly in New South Wales, had been seriously affected financially by conversions of cash registers covered under invalid contracts and the HANZ sub committee led by Joe Williams was successful in avoiding similar disasters.

Another 1965 mile-stone was the association's first venture into real estate. A floor was purchased in Westbrook House under construction in Upper Willis Street in the capital and officially opened in 1966. On the recommendation of the emergency committee all 19 branches were circulated but there were a couple who were not totally in favour of the purchase. One enlightened delegate thought the money could be better spent prosecuting persons for stealing the HANZ badged glassware!! Ironically, the mortgage on the investment was subsequently paid off much earlier than expected using funds from the glassware fun!!

HANZ legal representative Mr R B Cooke QC, (nowadays Lord Cooke of Thorndon) played a prominent part assisting with the assorted and some times complicated legislation of the mid sixties. With the assistance of legal counsel for the Canterbury branch, Mr J G Leggatt, a writ of certiorari , was taken out against the Licensing Control Commission, concerning unreasonable demands regarding minimum rooms. Although there were some who did not want taverns believing that they lowered the standard of the industry there were many who disagreed with the Commission's requirement that all city hotels must have at least 10 rooms and sleeping accommodation for 15. The writ lapsed and the matter was not pursued and gradually the industry and the public accepted that taverns were here to stay.

Robin Cooke also steered the HANZ Bill of 1965 which covered many hitherto disciplinary measures including the right of appeal in disciplinary decisions to the Supreme Court and not the LCC, and the right for HANZ to recommend to the Commission the right to cancel a hotel keepers license. Subsequently a Code of Ethics was drawn up and presented to the 1965 conference hosted by Canterbury at the United Service Hotel in the Garden City, the only time that the annual event was held on a weekend.

The conference featured an outstanding address by Mr R S O'Dell, General Manager of the Tourist and Publicity Department, who encouraged delegates with his optimistic view of tourism towards the latter part of the century, particularly with the opening of the Haast Pass scheduled for November of 1965. Another pleasant feature of the conference was a farewell tribute to retiring Canterbury association secretary Mr K N McGillvray who had been an outstanding asset to the industry for over 30 years.

1966 saw the 64^th conference held in the Palm Lounge of the Station Hotel in Auckland where a complete review of the rules was approved and formulated the make up of the executive administration until the board as we know it today was introduced in 1991. The move was long overdue as some branches were getting too many votes to the detriment of other areas and it was necessary to get some semblance of order. An Executive Council comprising one member from each branch replaced the old executive committee and a committee of management was formed consisting of the office bearers and treasurer, four members from each island and 5 members resident in Wellington.

There were concerns over the Hotel Investment Account which had been set up to assist financing for accommodation for tourism and domestic travelers. In response those hotels converted or built as taverns would be charged a tavern levy on liquor purchases as a penalty for not providing accommodation.

In 1966 the fund stood at 189,000 pounds, ($378,000.00), made up of fair prices for new and transferred licenses, a portion of annual license fees, and the tavern fees . These monies were paid to the LCC who in turn passed them to the State Advances Corporation to administrate. Under the Sale of Liquor Act an administrative committee of three allocated money for building accommodation outlets, at a not altogether friendly interest rate. The committee comprised of M J Mason, J R Tipping and former HANZ secretary Charles Suisted, all experienced in the trade but the restrictive interest rates were out of their control.

Obviously with the increase in the number of taverns the fund was going to increase rapidly but the legislation dictated that it could only grow to two hundred million pounds ($400,000,000.00) when the surplus would be transferred to the Consolidated Fund, where the Minister of Finance of the day could virtually do what he liked with it . Little wonder the interest rates were high. As we will see in a later chapter the concerns expressed were fairly close to what did eventuate.

There were major developments in 1967. Two significant events were the introduction of decimal closing and 10 o'clock closing both in the space of a few months. Decimal currency of course affected everybody but the trade took it in its stride. Under Secretary for Finance Mr R D Muldoon (later Sir Robert and Prime Minister) was chairman of the Decimal Currency Board and addressed the HANZ conference and executive council emphasising that there would be no exploitation and nothing would increase in price. The change over was smooth and there were few problems.

Not so smooth was the introduction of later closing. Circulars had been sent to all members obtaining views on trading hours following the over whelming referendum result in favour of the abolition of the "six o'clock swill". There were still complications about Easter trading, Anzac Day and election day which had to be sorted out and industrial trouble completely disrupted the first few weeks.

At the 1967 conference held in the Kelvin Hotel in Invercargill the theme seemed to be "now we have later closing, we want the lowering of the drinking age and the abolition of the triennial poll". HANZ had other worries as well. Many licensees were employed as managers mainly by the large brewers, and a lot were not in favour of later trading hours. An almost union militant attitude emerged firstly in Auckland and spread through the country. The New Zealand Hotel Managers Guild was formed and were supported to a large degree by the Hotel Workers Union. Many premises were closed at 6 o'clock for the first night of the new "civilised" era with staff on strike, and a few managers and owners struggled valiantly on their own to serve the public wanting desperately to experience their new found freedom.

There was criticism at the conference about the actions of the Managers Guild and the sight of fellow hoteliers engaged in verbal combat was something not previously experienced. However, back at their establishments things settled down in due course, and although the Managers Guild was an agenda item for a few more conferences, it was never going to be a real threat to HANZ or the Hotel owning companies. There was some effort to get better conditions and wages for managers but eventually the Guild, under the presidency of Whangarei's world famous wrestler and publican Lofty Blomfield identified more with HANZ than in a pseudo union environment.

HANZ handled the situation in an ethical and competent manner given that they had active members of the Guild sitting on national and branch executives around the country and many were very vocal in their criticism of the Breweries and other hotel owning companies.

The low point of the year was the death of HANZ vice president Harold Ellerington, one of the great personalities of the trade, who had done so much for his beloved Auckland keeping them in the national loop.

So 1967 had everything, and it was a great credit to HANZ that everything was managed in style and so many important changes in the history of the industry and indeed the Dominion were infiltrated into our society in a reasonably well conducted and respectful manner.

The best news of all was the announcement on 4 December 1967 that HANZ had appointed Thomas Charles Sheehy as the association's first industrial officer. A former employee of the Marine Department where he had specialised in award and industrial matters, followed by a spell as assistant secretary of the Licensing Control Commission in the most dramatic period of Liquor Licensing in New Zealand's history, made him the ideal person to deal with the confusing industrial scene.

Unions were head strong, strikes and stop works commonplace, and with the later hours hoteliers did not want to try and understand evening meal allowances, shift work conditions, and transport home provisions. With-holding of union fees was considered which would have been the last straw as far as many Unionists were concerned.

Tom Sheehy was a valuable industrial officer, recognised throughout the country for his knowledge and outstanding ability in all aspects of industrial relations. He served the Wellington branch as an outstanding secretary, and later became a leading industry figure as Chief Executive of HANZ and later Pub Charity.

The 1968 Conference was held back in Wanganui after a break of only six years One of the great names of the industry the late Gerry Power made his first appearance at the top table as a Vice President replacing the late Harold Ellerington. In due course Gerry graduated to the President's chair and held the position until his sudden death at his home in Lake Rotoiti on 25 May 1998. The Power Suite at the HANZ head office in Wellington is named in his honour. Jim Coltman stood down as Treasurer due to business commitments and was replaced by Wellington President Lloyd Morgan.

As the 1970's approached HANZ went from strength to strength. Jim Ewart's role as President was effective and the new executive structure worked well. The contribution by Joe Williams and Tom Sheehy made the Association the envy of many trade organisations and the 1969 Conference in Queenstown entertained another record crowd of delegates and observers. In a regulated industry it was necessary for conference to deal with remits that would seem petty by the standards of today.

The 3% tavern levy was seen as unfair especially when chartered clubs and licensed restaurants who did not provide accommodation were exempt from paying the levy. Theft of glassware was a major issue as was the difficulty in obtaining suitable terms for extended hours permits. Despite the fact that many hoteliers had not wanted 10 o'clock closing there was now mounting pressure on HANZ to press for mid-night opening on Friday and Saturday nights. In 2002 it is hard to understand the concern, and reconcile the dramatic changes the industry faced following de-regulation less than two decades later.

The 1970 conference in Rotorua recorded with regret the deaths of two prominent life members of HANZ. Tom Coltman, a former president and long serving treasurer, had held the reins in times when it appeared that the association might collapse and Charles Suisted had been an extremely efficient secretary over a period of almost 20 years.

The conference proceedings got away to a bad start when Jim Coltman, a Wellington delegate but no longer Treasurer of the national executive, moved that representatives of the hotel owning companies be asked to leave the meeting. Coltman claimed that in earlier days when HANZ was struggling the Breweries and hotel owning companies did not want to assist and were now wanting to be part of a very sophisticated and efficient organisation that HANZ had become.

A heated discussion took place and a secret ballot resulted in the representatives being allowed to stay and speak on issues without voting rights. The conference continued without further incident, but the foundation had been laid for some uncomfortable times ahead, particularly during the stormy 1970's.

The Brewery and hotel owning company representatives were honourable people and had a mandate to defend the companies that paid them handsomely. Many hoteliers saw them as something different but John Wright, Bill Reid, Douglas Myers, Sir Bernard O'Connell and Olly Barnett from Lion, along with Laurie Mills, Gordon Mackay, Walter Otto and Ron Burk from DB, together with others from Ballins and Leopard also had many friends in the hotel industry and many hoteliers had been grateful recipients of brewery assistance from time to time.

To be fair, in many ways the management of HANZ and the expertise of the Breweries and other hotel owning companies, had coped far better with the enormous change that later closing had bought than many of the hoteliers who were complaining the most. In addition the new amended legislation and the trail blazing HANZ Act, although containing provisions that hoteliers may not have wanted, were a necessary ingredient of the new culture that later closing had bought into society.

It was also obvious, that despite the industrial problems of the previous 70 years, there were going to be many more major hiccups in a later closing environment. In 1970, a 25% wage increase and a 2% pay roll tax, brought home to operators the importance of budgets and pricing, and HANZ were in almost monthly contact with Ned Harden from Wilkinson Wilberfoss, the association's accountants, setting prices in line with regulations and ensuring a reasonable mark up for publicans. In the first four years of 10pm closing the public bar price of jugs doubled from 34 cents to 68 cents and to confuse matters even further the introduction of the metric system complicated completely the issue of price per ounce versus price versus litre. An attempt to change the names of beer drinks to large medium and small was foiled when the Metric Board demanded that the accurate size in mls be the designated name of a container.

The 1969 amendment effective from 1970 dropped the drinking age from 21 to 20 and lowered the age limit of staff accordingly. However, the rules regarding barmaids stayed at the age of 25 and the trade unions insisted that they could work only in private or lounge bars. An Action Group made up of several trade union members planned disruptive boycotts on selected hotels in Auckland and gradually made their way to Wellington. Some hotels were out of draught beer for several weeks and HANZ were on the brink of seeking government intervention. It was the end of 1971 before there was a full settlement of both awards and the efforts of Bill Thomas (Industrial Chairman) and Tom Sheehy were warmly praised by hoteliers and in many instances by the workers as well.