NSW govt waters down its line on alcohol THE NSW opposition and Greens have angrily declared the alcohol lobby the winner after the government released its new guidelines on alcohol promotion. The guidelines ban the use of merchandise, interactive games or technology that appeals to minors. They also provide for fines of $5500 for licensees who encourage drinking through free, heavily discounted or all-you-can-drink offers, as well as promotions that encourage irresponsible drinking. However the government has dropped a planned ban on promoting advertising in places where minors frequent, on celebrities advertising alcohol to young people and on sex being used to sell alcohol. A ban on promotions offering discounts on alcohol of more than 50 per cent has also disappeared from the draft compiled in August last year. The opposition said lobbying from the alcohol industry resulted in a drastic watering down of what was supposed to have been a crackdown on irresponsible promotion of liquor. The Greens claimed the Australian Hotels Association had been given "privileged access" by the NSW Government to rewrite the draft for the updated liquor promotion guidelines released on Thursday. Acting Hospitality Minister Andrew Stoner said the guidelines would address the dramatic rise in the sale and promotion of alcohol online since the last guidelines were introduced in 2009. Deputy opposition leader Linda Burney said the guidelines appeased the alcohol industry, including big retailers such as Coles and Woolworths. "This set of guidelines has been watered down the point where it's actually a sop to the alcohol industry," Ms Burney told reporters. Greens MP John Kaye said the AHA had been given "privileged access" to rewrite the draft guidelines. Coles has previously said it had simply made representations regarding the guidelines as was appropriate in any robust debate on regulatory issues.