The City of Yarra bleats a lot about championing community values and protecting the community from unethical businesses, but in reality it is spineless, risk averse and incapable of achieving its goals in forcing businesses to meet their legal and ethical obligations. Take the selling of cigarettes to minors. It’s an ongoing problem that the City of Yarra could radically alter if it published the names of the offending businesses.
Many people feel strongly about businesses breaking the law by selling cigarettes to minors, including me. If I knew a petrol station or convenience store had been found to do this, I would boycott it, inform everyone of the boycott and encourage other people to also take direct action against the offending business. That is far more likely to result in a change of behaviour than a pathetic fine. Naming and shaming should be standard procedure in situations like this where community standards are violated.
On 22 April 2009, the City of Yarra published the press release Young people benefit in Yarra Council crackdown on local tobacco retailers:
Yarra City Council’s crackdown on local tobacco retailers selling cigarettes to minors is working, according to testing conducted in the municipality last week.
Mayor Cr Amanda Stone said the percentage of Yarra tobacco retailers who sold cigarettes to a person aged younger than 18 during testing conducted last week was 24%, compared with 62% in September 2008 and 31% in January 2009.
On 15 December 2009, the City of Yarra published Yarra retailers fined for selling cigarettes to teenager:
Fourteen tobacco retailers were caught selling cigarettes to a minor last week in a test purchase program undertaken by Yarra City Council.
Mayor Cr Jane Garrett said it was horrifying that nearly one in two of the retailers tested had sold cigarettes to the young tester.
Under a statewide test purchase program which is coordinated by the Department of Health in partnership with local councils, teenagers are employed to attempt to purchase cigarettes from local tobacco retailers.
“Of the 30 tobacco retailers visited by our 15-year-old test purchaser, 14 sold cigarettes to her,” Cr Garrett said.
“We are appalled that 47% of the retailers tested showed such disregard for the law,” she said.
So compliance with the law is falling. Enforcement is failing. The number of unscrupulous businesses breaking the law in the City of Yarra is increasing. What is the City of Yarra doing about it? Nothing. It’s a quiet news period, so the Melbourne Leader ran a story about it on 4 January 2010.
The problem is no one cares if they cannot relate the story to their own lives. Forcing these businesses to change could be achieved by the community as a whole if we only had the information that enabled us to act. Many consumers boycotting a business would be far more effective in forcing it to change than paying a fine. If the City of Yarra was serious about this issue, it would publish the names of the offending businesses. Anything less than complete transparency is effectively condoning their criminal behaviour.
5 January 2010 at 1:38 pm
Concerning, yes, but I’m also worried about the ethical issue of using a 15 year old test purchaser! What kind of an after school job is that? Do they pay this ‘young tester’? What kind of work conditions would they have?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
5 January 2010 at 2:52 pm
Sounds easy! In and out in 30 seconds. Drive the next one, repeat. Probably a nice little earner for the teens employed.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
5 January 2010 at 4:42 pm
Maybe I’m just jealous because I spent my teenage afternoons slaving away in a bakery rather than doing undercover work for the police ;-)
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
8 January 2010 at 10:46 am
I’m really tiring of the inflammatory, self-righteous tone that this blog has taken.
Even when you have a good point to make you have taken to writing uppity editorials that attempts to “stitch up” everyone responsible. It’s not enough that the City of Yarra has identified the need for a crackdown on underage tobacco sales – they need to go about this YOUR way and be accountable to YOU?
Are you planning a face-to-face complaint, in which you antagonize the staff without technically stepping over the line? You know, like you did with Qantas?
Congratulations. You’re the blogger equivalent of “Today Tonight”, minus the dumb audience.
Like or Dislike:
6 
1
8 January 2010 at 11:02 am
You give far too much credit to the City of Yarra. They are doing the tobacco selling inspections on behalf of the state health department, which I believe pays them to do it. My point is simply that it is not very effective, and I suggest it could be more so if they publicised the names of the offending businesses. I have emailed my complaint to the City of Yarra CEO, with the usual lack of response. If you don’t like what I write, don’t read it!
Like or Dislike:
1 
7
8 January 2010 at 11:51 am
Brian, you don’t simply suggest that this crackdown could be more effective if they published the names of the businesses.
You state: “Anything less than complete transparency is effectively condoning their criminal behaviour.”
Really?
Your attitude is inflammatory and (for reasons I don’t understand) highly self-aggrandizing. I have continued to read because I enjoy learning more about Fitzroy from a local – not because I enjoy being told what I should think about companies based on your biased interpretations and experiences.
Like or Dislike:
5 
1
8 January 2010 at 2:11 pm
Yes, I think complete transparancy is the correct response in this situation. The council should name and shame the offending businesses and let the community decide whether they still want to spend their money at those places. By protecting their privacy the council is protecting them from the derision they deserve and failing to impose the financial penalty I think the community would impose if it was able to know who to boycott.
How many times do I have to make the completely obvious statement that if you don’t like what I write then don’t bother reading it! My confidence in my own ideas and opinions is not self-aggrandising. It’s assertive. I usually get criticised for this by passive aggressive people who have no sense of self, and who conform to social pressure rather than stand up for their own values.
Like or Dislike:
1 
4