Balmain pub Unity Hall Hotel shut down after twice flouting covid-19 regulations

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The Unity Hall Hotel in Balmain was slugged with a $10,000 fine and is not permitted to trade for the next seven days, after inspectors from NSW Liquor and Gaming found the hotel hosted two birthday parties in breach of Public Health Orders on Tuesday. It came just one day after management was fined $5,000 for multiple breaches throughout the venue, including not maintaining digital records and a lack of social distancing.

Managers of the pub in the affluent Sydney suburb apologised to patrons for the oversight, but pointed out regulations were difficult to meet. The standards required of the hotel by health authorities are very high, but we recognise that the consequences of this virus are severe and not to be taken lightly," a statement read.

Police were tipped off about the breaches by a member of the public and found a private function with 32 guests dancing, standing and mingling while drinking. Under current public health orders in NSW, there is a 10 person limit on bookings in hospitality venues, while dancing and mingling is prohibited. The hotel was fined $5,000 by police who referred the matter onto Liquor and Gaming. The regulatory body's review of CCTV corroborated the breaches identified by police.

This morning, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she was frustrated and disappointed by the Unity Hall Hotel's breaches. If you have had a fine you have been shut down for a few days, and then you do it again and ignore it that is how the disease spreads. Because if one person who had the disease went and had a drink at that pub and it wasn't covid-19 safe, hundreds of people could have been infected. That's the understanding we have with the community at large, we want to do the right thing by everybody and let everybody open while being Covid-19 safe but we also expect businesses to do that as well, And most of them have been. Most of them have been fantastic. It's just the small minority.