Tales from the Past

In 1988 national vice president Fred Moynihan retired after 16 years as an office bearer and long time champion of the smaller country hoteliers. Fittingly he was presented with a landscape painting of his beloved Central Otago.

Licensing matters featured on every meeting agenda. A Black Power chapter in Auckland was granted a food and entertainment license from 6pm to 2am Thursday to Saturday when hoteliers were struggling to get the same license beyond midnight. To add insult to injury the Police initially objected but withdrew the objection when they realised that they had right of access in licensed premises, with or without a warrant.

The Association gave assistance in many individual legal issues involving the prosecution of licensees but because of the frequency of requests it was necessary to adopt a policy where HANZ would only intervene or assist when an initial request had been made at the outset, and not when the case was over.

HANZ in association with Lion Breweries made a substantial grant to Doctor John Bailey, the expert on drinking and driving, and HANZ lawyer Alastair Sheriff also received a grant on an extended overseas private trip where he gained some valuable hotel administration information. A road safety poster campaign sponsored by HANZ and featuring visiting blind singer Stevie Wonder declaring, "I would drive myself before I drove with a drunken driver !!" was a big success; although there was subsequent doubt about the authenticity of the autographs he had left behind.

On his return from Cornell University Kelvin Thompson emphasized the importance of relations in management and human resources which he predicted would be the biggest challenge of the imminent 1990's.

The New Zealand Liquor Industry Council received a grant of $30,000 from HANZ, ongoing subject to reducing overall funding but in 1988 the Council wound up with a tribute and presentation to Jim Thompson for his outstanding contribution over the years. Later at the Waitangi conference where Jim and his wife Judith were guests, President Gerry Power outlined the 29 year period of Jim's service to the industry and praised his work in the political field and his Parliamentary background. He was subsequently offered a joint consultancy with HANZ and Lion for a 12 month period.

At the same conference delegates noticed for perhaps the first time the gradual winding down of the Tourist Hotel Corporation and observations were made that it would be the last HANZ conference in the winterless north. One of the highlights was an address by the HANZ security consultant Trevor Morley of Wellington, and it was quite apparent that many hoteliers were quite na￯ve regarding many aspects of personal and property security and safety.

Despite the obvious signs of restructuring, branches still refused to consider amalgamation, although the comradeship still existed and many did make a contribution to the Greymouth Flood Disaster Fund. Significantly in the light of subsequent events, the Hotel Investment Fund also did a special deal for publicans on the coast affected by the damage, funding up to 100% for repairs and refurbishments resulting from the floods.

The treasurer presenting the financial report at the Waitangi conference clearly indicated the success of Pub Charity in the early stages and apologised for his shaky signature on the accounts, explaining that he had actually signed the accounts on the way north in the car, as there was no way he was going to sign anything at Waitangi ! A major worry though was the effect of the future of the levy on finances. Denis Pickup, managing director of Hancock's issued a statement stating that $30,000 was the maximum that Lion would be spending for HANZ services irrespective of the number of units, while Kevin O'Neill of DB indicated that his company would keep HANZ informed of developments.

Back in the capital HANZ leased part of the 9^th floor to the New Zealand Motel Association and HANZ vice president Tim Hurley retained the chairmanship of the Accommodation Council with Auckland secretary Graeme McKay acting as council secretary. HANZ made submissions on the introduction of casinos and Pub Charity later made an application and a non-refundable deposit for a casino license amalgamated with an hotel establishment. The application was eventually withdrawn.

The Public Relations sub committee launched an industry diary which has continued to this day although the committee no longer exists. In a rather unorthodox manner HANZ drafted their own version of the 1988 Sale of Liquor submissions and distributed a copy to all Members of Parliament. The subsequent introduction of off and on premises of course later changed the whole structure and led to the complete de-regulation of the industry.

Sadly, two HANZ stalwarts and industry personalities, brothers Joe and Leo Aspell died within eight hours of each other, just before Christmas in 1988, and trade identities from all over the country attended one of the biggest funerals Wellington had seen. The Aspell family had controlled an enormous number of hotels throughout the Dominion.

In 1989 it was necessary for Head Office to introduce temporary staff when Tom Sheehy's efficient secretary Sue Bull resigned to raise a family and the ongoing demands of legislations and its effect created an enormous work load for HANZ. It was apparent that the new Sale of Liquor Act was going to create a different scenario than anything the industry had faced before. Firmly in the sights was the Hotel Investment Fund - over $100 million dollars - just sitting there for the taking? The industry had resolved to take all steps to avoid the Government taking the lot.

The first step was the abolition of Vocational Training Councils and the withdrawal of funding for all industry training boards. The Hotel and Catering Industry Training Board sought and succeeded in obtaining $4 million for training purposes which provided a life line for their ongoing operations. HANZ very confidentially considered assisting a hotelier to put together a test case in the hope that an injunction or even a judicial review could be sought but it was all too late. The balance went into the Consolidated Fund never to be heard of again and appropriately the payment of tavern fees ceased on 10 October 1989.

And there was more bad news to come. HANZ engaged the services of John Thorpe Consultants and Palliser Advertising with a theme "What'll it be?" When the Bill was introduced on 25 May 1989 the status of the Licensing Fund was only one issue. HANZ made a contribution of $3,000 to a new group entitled the New Zealand Liquor Association ostensibly to lobby on behalf of all aspects of the industry. However, upon the sudden death of Sir Lance Cross president of the Sporting Clubs Association of NZ (SCANZ), it became obvious that there were other agendas. HANZ only interest was in the Bill so HANZ bowed out with the only consolation being that the Bill did retain the HANZ Act.

Pub Charity in effect took over the public relations role for HANZ but there were casualties in the early stages.

In March 1989 a Lower Hutt Licensee misappropriated gaming machine funds and although he did not face a prosecution Pub Charity trustees immediately cancelled his Pub Charity membership and site license and removed the machines from the premises. He was ordered to make total restitution immediately and was asked to resign from HANZ and from the local executive. An outstanding lawn bowler he was also banned from all HANZ sports tournaments for a period of five years. An appeal was subsequently disallowed and a short time later he committed suicide in Australia.

Coincidentally at the same time HANZ reviewed the criteria for entry into the prestigious licensed trade bowls and golf tournaments. Participants had to be a current HANZ member or holder of a general manager's certificate and actively engaged in the industry or a full time employee recognised by HANZ. Bona fide industry suppliers and executive employers of trade organizations also qualified as did any person with the necessary qualifications who had been engaged full time in the industry for a specified period.

Nelson hosted their fourth HANZ conference in 1989 and again President Gerry Power vociferously criticised the Draconian attitude of many members of Parliament when exercising their conscience vote. Gerry stressed the folly of rejecting Sunday trading and under 18 drinking and then six weeks later approving Sunday horse racing. With reference to the demolition of the Licensing fund Gerry said that the Government had acted like the Great Train Robbers in snatching the tavern tax fund, which in effect had belonged to the industry. He also pointed out that HANZ had acted entirely correct in ceasing tavern tax collection because the Government would have allowed it to go on and on and swelled the fund even further.

The annual report also expressed concern at the impasse on progress with major awards and the unhelpful attitude of the Hotel Workers Union and other associated groups displaying their complete lack of policy or understanding of the reality of a seven-day a week industry.

The conference paid their respects to long serving Canterbury executive officer Robin Broom who had passed away during the year after a long battle with cancer. On a happier note a tribute was paid to South Canterbury's Kathleen Florence Wills for 25 years service to her branch as a competent and popular secretary. A great worker for the community and welfare organizations Kath was also a Justice of the Peace and in 1992 received the Queens Service Medal for her public service.

Restructuring was still a major issue on the agenda and in fact as HANZ entered the last decade of the century it was generally conceded that the levy was well and truly on the way out. Administration within HANZ was tested to the limit with the indefatigable Tom Sheehy acting as executive officer of HANZ and Pub Charity as well as launching the very important and popular Pubcard project, negotiating with Sky Television for a deal for members and endeavouring to get a grip on the Smoke Free Environments Act. At that stage the legislation applied to restaurants only with the principle requirement being a rope to separate smokers and non-smokers. The fact that smoke could very conveniently drift unobstructed from one area to the other seemed to have been over looked!!

To add to the pressure Graeme McKay was transferred to Auckland as branch secretary and to continue his role as secretary of the Accommodation Council. Some relief was forthcoming with Pub Charity helping out with finance for Pubcard and other public relation matters associated with the industry.

The 1990 conference in Wanganui was very important and reflected the major changes in the industry bought about by deregulation, and other important issues. A working committee consisting of Dennis Pickup of Lion, Howard Hill from DB and Tom Sheehy was set up to look at the PubTab situation and to meet with TAB officials who were interested in a major development programme.

However, there was criticism of the lack of real progress on the restructuring of the Executive Council and committee of management and the question of cost cutting. It was stressed that suitable board administrators must be identified for the new regime and as a consequence no elections were conducted for the council and committee of management.

The conference guest speaker was Judge Bill Unwin who had had a long involvement with the industry and served as a Stipendiary Magistrate in South Canterbury and Wanganui. In the year of HANZ's centennial in 2002 he was Chairman of the Liquor Licensing Authority and was a popular guest speaker at the 100th conference held in Wellington's new WestpacTrust Stadium.

Following the Wanganui conference an all day meeting was held in the Capital where the final issues were thrashed out for the new regime. THC representative on the HANZ committee of management Ian Bray joined the HANZ office staff and commenced his duties as Wellington Branch secretary and administrative officer at HANZ Head Office. This entailed the task of setting up HANZ staff employment contracts and the even bigger undertaking of compiling HANZ standard collective contracts for hotel staff throughout the country, in light of the introduction of the Employment Contracts Act. HANZ members were given specific options relating to collective employment contracts or in-house minimum conditions contracts and there was subsequent high praise for the overall success of the project.

At an historic meeting in Wellington on 3 July 1991 the Executive Council and committee of management met for the last time and prepared for the important 89^th annual conference at Palmerston North in September. There were plenty of nominations for the board of nine and there were no indications of how the voting would go in the new environment. Vice President Tim Hurley initially challenged President Gerry Power but before the elections withdrew in favour of the vice presidency. Former treasurer John Wimsett stood down as vice president to pursue other interests and treasurer Bill Brien stood down in favour of a board position.

In the event the election of successful candidates for the inaugural board of HANZ resulted: Gerry Power - President, David McNay - vice president, with Maurice Hayes - treasurer, and the elected board members in alphabetical order were Bill Brien (Wellington), Ross Burrow (Westport), Richard Charters (Rotorua), Crawford Cowley (New Plymouth), Basil Diack (Napier) and Marty Fuller (Christchurch). Under the new rules the two highest polling successful board members served for two years and the successful candidates were Bill Brien and Basil Diack.

The conference also confirmed the recommendation of the policy committee that a new position be created for affiliate membership at $300 plus GST per annum and dealt with the alteration to titles and the retention or disposal of various incorporations and companies associated with HANZ.

The new look board met for the first time in early December 1991 and the outgoing treasurer complimented Maurice Hayes on the new accounts format and professional presentation. All sub-committees were abolished with the exception of the finance sub-committee consisting of Gerry Power, David McNay, Maurice Hayes and Bill Brien. As agreed at an earlier meeting HANZ (Inc) and the HANZ Industrial Association of Employers (Inc) were dissolved, but it was decided that the "New Zealand Licensee Company" would continue to be owned by HANZ in the meantime.

It was also resolved that there would be no co-opted board members at this stage and that regional secretaries would not be required to attend board meetings but would be requested to submit a report 14 days before each meeting. Long serving vice president Tim Hurley was re-appointed the association's representative on the Accommodation Council but relinquished the chair two years later.

A minor hiccup had emerged with the election of the association's auditor at the 1991 Palmerston North conference. Alfred Edward (Ted) Tarrant had been elected unopposed as the HANZ auditor since 1941 and was held in the highest regard by politicians and civic and industry leaders. At the age of 19 in his native Taranaki he had been honoured by the Royal Humane Society for bravery in rescuing a married couple at Ohawe Beach near Hawera and in 1988 he was awarded the OBE for his services to the economy. He was a well-known Wellington accountant, a former President of New Zealand Jaycees and long serving chairman of the New Zealand Industries Development Commission. He died on 2 September 1995.

His re-election at the conference 50 years after his initial appointment was considered a formality until a point of order was raised by the likeable Frank Murphy, a Central Otago hotelier who year after year questioned various aspects of the annual accounts. The affable Murphy was extremely knowledgeable in accounting matters and his comments and questions were always treated with the utmost respect. He raised an issue under the HANZ rules that the association's auditor had to be a chartered accountant and he could find no record of Ted Tarrant currently having this qualification. Tom Sheehy was asked to pursue the matter and after confirmation of Frank Murphy's revelation Ted Tarrant's long and distinguished stint as auditor came to an end.

His replacement was Bryan Walshe from the Lower Hutt firm of Sherwin Chan and Walshe. Bryan had worked as an accountant for Lion's Wellington Red Band Brewery before going into private practice, and was an acknowledged authority on hotel and licensing matters. His father-in-law was the former national treasurer Jim Coltman of Grand Hotel fame and Bryan has been a judge of the annual HANZ Awards for Excellence since their inception at the Dunedin conference in 1998.

Long serving office manager and wage awards authority Nola Walton retired in March 1992 and was appropriately recognised for her outstanding service. Later in the year Kim Forbes was appointed administration manager at HANZ head office.

The entire industry was shocked in the same year with the sudden death of one of the industry's great characters, South Canterbury President, Tony Newsome the licensee of the Pleasant Point Hotel. Tony had served HANZ at national level prior to the new board regime and was a former outstanding amateur boxer. He was awarded the British Empire Medal in 1962 for bravery in saving the life of a man in a house fire at Akaroa. Another popular industry personality to pass on was Alf Bailey president of the New Zealand Licensed Trade Golf Association.

However, the new board had plenty of issues to deal with. Personal grievances, constructive dismissals, harassment, and other new employment issues were the result of allegations that were simple, convenient and often profitable to make but extremely difficult for employers to counter. Regrettably many hoteliers, often acting on suspect advice, frequently found paying a negotiated amount was easier than contesting the issues.

The attitude of some tribunals became a major worry with the employers' position totally opposed to the "victims" version. On several occasions "complaints" were withdrawn after thousands of dollars and hours were wasted. The situation became so serious that HANZ raised the issue with the Business Council of the New Zealand Employers Association. HANZ Industrial Officer Kelvin Thompson who had earlier prophesised the current situation commented that there was a major industry in the making.

There were problems too with the levy and branch grants. Reluctantly it had to be acknowledged that subscriptions instead of the levy would be preferable in the long term. Unfortunately some branches had amassed considerable funds and continued to make application for the annual grant based on the number of financial HANZ establishments in their area. The introduction of a branch budget to support the amount being applied for did little to stem the flow but to their credit some branches did forgo or minimise their grants in the interest of the association overall.

Some members were concerned at the lack of accommodation presence on the new board and Geoff Johnson General Manager of the Hyatt in Auckland was co-opted but only attended one or two meetings. To be fair some of the board members did have accommodation outlets but there was no representation from the main centres until Norm Barry from Auckland and Barry Rozynski of Christchurch was elected in 1994. Both subsequently made major contributions on accommodation matters.

At the 90^th annual conference held in the Quality Inn at Nelson in 1992, there was high praise for the new board and the positive changes that had been made. However, there was major concern at the proliferation of licences and that on the 25^th anniversary of 10 o'clock closing there was still no Sunday opening. Jennifer Hewitt from ALAC and Jim Peters from the Host Responsibility Institute of California made an excellent presentation on host responsibility and former All Black and well known hotelier and brewer Terry McCashin gave an interesting insight into micro breweries.

There was considerable discussion on gaming following on from the report by former Chief District Court Judge Sir Desmond Sullivan who had previously chaired commissions on Lotto, Casinos, gaming and taxation and had carried out many interviews with various people involved in the gaming industry. There were major concerns regarding chartered clubs subsidising food and drink and during a lively question and answer session a representative from the Internal Affairs intimated that a lot of the blame could be placed on lackadaisical Ministers!!

John Flanagan from the Liquor Licensing Authority of the Tribunals Division- formerly the Licensing Control Commission - gave a helpful address on Sale of Liquor matters explaining that since 1991 there had been thousands of applications for licenses, and major hassles over matters concerning the Building Act and Town Planning issues.

The conference ended with tributes to Ross Burrow a board member and former vice president who was standing down having sold his hotel in Westport and to Evan Mita of Taranaki a former committee of management member and HANZ's nomination for the Maori Wardens Council, who had retired from the industry.

1993 dawned with major concerns still clouding the levy issue. Treasurer Maurice Hayes was particularly concerned about the fluctuation of the levy and some suppliers not paying regularly and in some cases not paying at all. The importance of the Pub Charity contribution was high lighted in the budget with the lower levy contribution.

There were some ludicrous situations in the Sale of Liquor field. A backlog of legislation had Sunday trading for hotels and taverns on the back burner, whilst indoor cricket centres, sporting clubs and massage parlours were obtaining 24 hour licences for seven days a week. In the Capital the BNZ food centre with various food outlets wanting to sell liquor were questioned about toilet facilities and explained that toilets were available in the Rose and Crown tavern in the adjoining Colonial Building. There were incidents of grocery and supermarket chains selling liquor to hotels and taverns at a cheaper price than hoteliers could buy from normal outlets, and of course no levy involved at all.

Tom Sheehy devised a food ticket concept for purchasing meals on a Sunday and investigated a Section 73 licence for the period of Sunday racing. Police approved the meal ticket concept but opposed the special licence. A further proposal involved Sunday television and racing with a licence and the operation of a telephone betting account in the name of the licensee. Discussions were held with the TAB but frustration prevailed. The Wellington branch consulted the Police concerning major firms operating as de facto taverns particularly on Friday evenings in boardrooms and offices. Instants were given where firms were consulting hoteliers to ascertain what price the staff and guests should be charged for the illegal sales!!

In central Wellington widespread interest was created when an hotelier was prosecuted for producing an indecent show, namely, a strip tease performance, during lunch hours through the week. Action groups rather than police took exception but the case went to a jury who dismissed all charges. HANZ assisted with the legal fees.

On the training front the Hotel and Catering Industry and Training Board (HCITB) became an ITO - an Industry Training Organisation - approved by the Board of Education Training Support Agency (ETSA), under a new education structure. Kelvin Thompson with assistance from Tom Sheehy and HANZ published a book entitled "Hospitality People Matter" which was a finalist in the 1992 New Zealand Tourism Awards.

Compulsory breath testing was introduced appropriately on April Fools Day in 1993 with an immediate devastating impact on the hotel industry. HANZ had gone to great lengths to promote low alcohol beer with little assistance from the brewers, but to no avail. Pub Charity assisted with suitably worded coasters and a table of levels indicating what was safe and what was over the limit. To add insult to injury the brewers imposed a large increase on draught beer, well over the excise increase and completely ignored the problems of the hotels sector.

With the phenomenal increase in on/off licences discipline in the trade had vanished and the anticipated introduction of beer into supermarkets would obviously proliferate the problem. In Wellington the local branch ran a "Bar of the Year" competition which high-lighted nominated designated drivers, host responsibility and the promotion of coffee and soft drinks, but it soon became abundantly clear that compulsory breath testing had changed the whole culture of the country.