QUEANBEYAN Police have called on Walsh’s Hotel to be more responsible in the wake of a massive Anzac Day brawl that blocked off Monaro Street last week.
Up to 40 people were involved in the brawl, which spilled out of the hotel around 6pm, with fighting blocking traffic in Monaro Street.
Queanbeyan Police were forced to call for back-up from Bungendore, and made six arrests at the scene.
Inspector Chris Varley said despite additional police rostered on for the day, the brawl had ‘‘tested’’ resources.
‘‘Given the nature of the day and the fact that it’s traditionally a day when people tend to have a few beers that can always lead to a concern for the police. So we had additional resources that were rostered for the day, and as a result of that the resources we had even then were at times tested,’’ Inspector Varley said.
‘‘At one stage in the early evening we did call on the assistance of some of our police in the Bungendore cluster to come and assist with quelling some anti-social behaviour in the main street of Queanbeyan.’’
In the wake of the brawl, he called on Walsh’s Hotel management to take a long, hard look at their practices.
‘‘It’s not a good look. It is disappointing on our part, and it should be disappointing as well for the licensee and the management of the hotel itself,’’ Inspector Varley said.
‘‘It brings an unsavoury perception towards Walsh’s Hotel – none of the other hotels or clubs in town had those sorts of problems – so it focuses the attention of the community back on Walsh’s Hotel. The last thing the community want are people brawling and fighting in the streets, so they need to consider that.’’
Walsh’s licensee Trent Miller didn’t wish to comment on the brawl, but said he had already closed the pub before fighting broke out.
‘‘I don’t really want to comment to be honest. We had a really good day here and raised a lot of money for Legacy, so I’d rather focus on the positives,’’ Mr Miller said.