Maz Salt is worried about a lack of diversity in late-night drinking venues. Photo: Eddie Jim
Melbourne, Australia, May 2, 2015, The Age
By Peter Barrett
It’s not quite dark yet but punters are already filtering into a new city venue, Belleville.
Down a grotty laneway in Chinatown, this typically edgy Melbourne bar must, by law, stop serving alcohol by 1am.
Owner Maz Salt, 39, would like to stay open later but he can’t, thanks to an ongoing freeze on new liquor licences beyond 1am.
With the freeze set to roll over for another two years on June 30, Salt and other small, boutique bar and nightclub owners are calling on the state government to reconsider.