Kings Cross men’s clubs on the famous Golden Mile set to go teetotal
SYDNEY’S famous Kings Cross used to be about beers, boobs and buck’s parties — now the Golden Mile’s famous strip clubs are going teetotal.
NSW
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KINGS Cross used to be about beers, boobs and buck’s parties — now the Golden Mile’s famous strip clubs are going teetotal.
Popular haunts Dreamgirls and Love Machine operate without liquor licences, so they can trade into the early hours without breaching last-drinks and lockout laws. This leaves five — Showgirls, Bada Bing, Velvet Underground, Dolls House and Dancers Cabaret — free to sell booze.
Dreamgirls, where last December police discovered drug dealing and an illegal bar, surrendered its liquor licence during a six-month mandatory closure.
“The new owner has opened Dreamgirls as an unlicensed entertainment venue unable to sell alcohol,” a Liquor and Gaming NSW spokesman said.
Bada Bing, which also served a six-month closure relating to drug offences, reopened under new company called Sapphire Lounge on July 7.
Dry strip clubs in Kings Cross only have to abide by the operating hours set by the terms of their council development approval. The dry clubs are the latest sign of Kings Cross gentrification, where a boom in property development has followed the exodus of late-night party trade due to the 2014 lockouts.
“Police have successfully sought the removal of the liquor licences of a number of businesses that have continued to trade without their licence,” Kings Cross Police superintendent Mick Fitzgerald said. He is doubling down on efforts to squeeze any remaining criminal element out of the neighbourhood.
Six people were charged with drug offences during a raid on Strippers Nightclub on July 8 and police also discovered an illegal brothel.
Police obtained special search powers from the Supreme Court and Strippers Nightclub management shut the business down.
TIME AND AGE ‘DRUNK’ RISK FACTORS
Evonne Madden
THE time of night and age of drinkers were the single biggest predictors of trouble at licensed venues, a secret study of Australian pubs and clubs has found.
An Australian-first covert study into intoxication rates in licensed venues across the country has observed hundreds of people getting drunk.
With permission from venue managers, patrons at 62 bars, nightclubs and large pubs were assessed for various signs of inebriation, including slurred speech, staggering, fumbling change and bumping into people and aggression.
The study, published in the International Journal of Drug Policy, made 828 “observations” of intoxication at nightspots in five Australian cities.
Crowded venues, and the number of male patrons, were other risk factors for high rates of drunkenness. Study co-author Professor Peter Miller, from Deakin University, said the study backed up an already strong body of evidence for earlier closing hours.
The study found about half of all patrons at any venue appeared tipsy at any given time.
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