For Steph and her partner Paul, there’s something special about a pub in the British winter.
“It’s really lovely – in wintertime, you go with your dog, there’s a fire, it’s really cozy,” she said.
Now, they may be able to do the same in Melbourne with their cavoodle, Rupert.
On Thursday, the Victorian premier announced that if Labor was re-elected in November, it would amend the state’s food safety laws to overturn the ban on dogs in venues. Currently, dogs are only allowed to dine with their owners outside in limited circumstances in Victoria, with councils largely responsible for enforcing the rules.
“Not being able to go into some pubs with our dog is the difference between us going in or not,” Steph said.
Though the new parents are aware pets in pubs may not be for everyone.
“There is the exception of large dogs that are potentially scary for younger children and I do understand the issue in that space, but certainly for small, fluffy dogs, it’s hard to understand [why not],” Paul said.
“Kids are more disruptive than dogs, to be honest,” Steph added.
For, Zeke, whose family owns six King Charles Cavaliers, including one-year-old Daisy, it requires planning ahead,
“I have to check before I go,” he said. “It always has to be outside, in the beer garden, but a lot of pubs are not allowed.”
Carroll said the change shows the government is moving “with the times”.
“All over Europe, pubs have been pet friendly for years – decades, in fact,” he said.
“What’s been shown in Europe is that pubs that are pet friendly and allow dogs benefit everyone – the economy grows, they become more family friendly, and everyone has a great time.”
The government said it would be up to individual venues if they wanted to permit pets and it would conduct consultation to determine where exactly they will be allowed.
“Publicans decide the music, the menu and the crowd. They should get to decide whether dogs are allowed inside,” it said.
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At the Royal Botanic Gardens on Thursday morning, everyone Guardian Australia approached was supportive of the policy.
Phillip currently picks where to dine out based on whether his tibetan terriers, Pebbles and Mickey, can join him.
“They just sit at the table and watch us eat,” he said.
“They are a big part of the family. And I think if people got their dogs under control, it shouldn’t be a problem.”
Kimberley Malcolm is from the lobby group the Australia Hotels Association. The group had been pushing for clearer guidelines around pets, which she said would benefit publicans and patrons.
“A lot of us don’t have children, so your dog is your child. To be able to bring them to the pub to enjoy all of the things the pub has to offer, is really cool,” she said, accompanied by her French bulldog Mack.
Friends Gemma and Anna were also supportive – though they didn’t think it would be enough to change people’s vote.
“If I wasn’t going to vote for Labor, it wouldn’t switch my vote,” Anna said.
Carroll also announced if re-elected, Labor would legislate for venues to have an “automatic right” to stay open until ۳am.
“The red tape and the hurdles they have to go through to get to ۳am, to be frank, is ridiculous,” he said.
He also committed to reducing the wait time for standard liquor licences from ۱۱ weeks to six, allowing staff under ۱۸ to clear tables and consider more underage gigs at pubs and venues.
Earlier in the week, Labor also announced plans to create live music precincts and committed funding to the arts and regional beer tourism and festivals.
It comes after two polls released this month showing Labor’s primary vote has sunk to between ۲۴ and ۲۵%.
The opposition leader, Jess Wilson, said she didn’t have a problem with seeing pubs open later – or for dogs being allowed inside – but the announcements would do little to improve consumer confidence.
“Just because you open the pub to ۳am doesn’t mean you’re going to see another pint being bought. So we want to make sure that we actually fix our economy here,” she said, noting the Coalition’s plan to reduce tax burden on businesses.
