Author Archives
A newspaper journalist, writer and local historian, Mick Roberts specialises in Australian cultural history, particularly associated with the Australian hotel and liquor industry. Mick has had an interest in revealing the colourful story of pubs, inns and associated industries in the Sydney and Illawarra regions of NSW for over 30 years. He is currently working on a comprehensive history of the hotel and liquor industry in the Illawarra region of NSW. Besides authoring a number of history books, Mick has owned and operated several community newspapers. He was one time editor of the Wollongong Northern News, The Bulli Times, The Northern Times, The Northern Leader and The Local - all located in the Wollongong region. As a journalist he has worked for Rural Press, Cumberland (News Limted), Sydney based, City News, and is now with Torch Publications.
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Pub compliance crackdown this Australia Day
Liquor & Gaming NSW inspectors will be active over the Australia Day weekend to check venues are complying with liquor laws and COVID public health orders. Liquor & Gaming NSW Director of Compliance, Dimitri Argeres, said inspectors will be out targeting… Read More ›
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Road Trip: The pubs of far north Queensland’s back country
By MICK ROBERTS © THEY’RE a hardy bunch, those who call far north Queensland’s back country home. They have to be. It’s harsh country, as we discovered on our road trip to Chillagoe, 200km west of Cairns, late in 2020…. Read More ›
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Two men killed and pubs destroyed during 1934 Kalgoorlie racial riots
AN outbreak of disorder and violence occurred in the Western Australian goldfield towns of Boulder and Kalgoorlie as a sequel to the death of an Australian born man after a quarrel with an Italian in January 1934. The mob looted… Read More ›
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Constables caught-out having after-hour New Year’s Eve drinks at Erskineville’s Imperial Hotel
FOUR Sydney police constables were caught-out on New Year’s Eve 1930 when they called into an Erskineville pub for after hours’ celebratory drinks with the publican. Constables Robert Ramsay, Alfred Costello, William Mowbray and William Grover were each fined 10… Read More ›
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Study finds despite Covid-19 pub restrictions, Aussies did not “get on the beer” at home during lockdowns
NEW research has revealed Australians did not “get on the beers” at home during the nation’s COVID-19 lockdowns despite the closure of licensed venues. On-premises alcohol consumption was prohibited in Australia in March following the closure of pubs, clubs, restaurants,… Read More ›
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Mayor redeveloped Ballina theatre into the Australian Hotel
By MICK ROBERTS © THE tamed applause from opera at a Ballina theatre, was replaced with the raucous shouting, laughter, and bawdy tunes of a pub in 1895. Where Gilbert and Sullivan’s lolanthe had entertained from the stage, beer suddenly… Read More ›
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How a thatched tavern in Adelaide’s south-west doubled as a church: The Brighton Metro Hotel
By MICK ROBERTS © A RESOURCEFUL woman, who outlived two publican husbands, Margaret Leahy made a few ‘firsts’ during her life as a South Australian hotelier. At the helm of one of the state’s oldest trading pubs, she was one of… Read More ›
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Condobolin’s Royal Hotel has been serving up cold beers since 1886
THE magnificent art-deco Royal Hotel at Condobolin was nearly lost earlier in the year when it was closed for business. David Price, who has been licensee of the Royal since mid 2018, had different ideas though. He had been managing… Read More ›
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Road Trip: Millaa Millaa and beyond
OUR road trip to north Queensland in September 2020 provided us with the opportunity of visiting the small rural townships of Millaa Millaa, Ravenshoe and Mount Garnet. While we’ve visited the Atherton Tablelands in the past, this time we had… Read More ›
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