Review into Sydney’s controversial pub and club lockout laws published

THEY have saved lives but they’re killing Sydney’s night-life — now a review says changes are needed to the controversial laws.

Electronic signs in Kings Cross warn of the Sydney lockout laws.

SYDNEY’S controversial lockouts should be relaxed and people throughout NSW permitted to buy takeaway alcohol until 11pm.

They’re the main conclusions from a wide ranging review of the laws which are liked and loathed in equal measure.

Former High Court judge Ian Callinan’s report into the laws, that attracted 1800 submissions, was handed to the Government today.

It calls for the 1.30am lockouts and 3am last drinks for live entertainment venues be extended to a 2am lockout and 3.30am last drinks for a two-year trial period.

However, campaigners against the reforms will be disappointed that venues with no live music will likely see the current restrictions remain in place.

The report has also recommended the home delivery of alcohol be extended from 10pm to midnight. Justice Minister Troy Grant has said he will consider the findings.

The NSW Government introduced the so called ‘lockout laws’ in 2014 following the deaths of teenagers Thomas Kelly and Daniel Christie who were fatally felled in a one punch attacks.

The controversial reforms, which have undoubtedly reduced assaults but have been blamed for decimating Sydney’s night-life, mandate venues in the CBD and nearby Kings Cross to close by 3am with last entries at 1.30am.

Bottle shops statewide also currently have to be shutters down by 10pm.

But, say campaigners, even if the Government chooses to make changes to the lockouts it could be too late for the neighbourhoods most closely associated with the restrictions.

Daniel Christie died after being attacked in Kings Cross on New years Eve 2013.

“Kings Cross will never be the way it was before,” Tyson Koh, founder of the Keep Sydney Open campaign told news.com.au.

“But it’s not too late for Sydney’s night-life, we can improve entertainment options in areas like Oxford St and the CBD to coax people back into the city.”

Mr Koh said well-run venues should be exempted from being forced to close at 3am and the 1.30am lockouts should be scrapped altogether.

“The 1.30am lockout causes the most damage and has the questionable impact on safety because when you kick people out on the street all at the same time you can potentially get more trouble.”

In February, about 8000 people gathered in Sydney’s CBD to protest the laws.

But the laws have been enthusiastically backed by Premier Mike Baird who, in an Facebook missive penned earlier this year, was unapologetic saying the reduction in violent assaults was reason enough to keep them in place.

Critics say Kings Cross has become a ghost town since the laws were introduced.

“Some have suggested these laws are really about moralising. They are right. These laws are about the moral obligation we have to protect innocent people from drunken violence,” he wrote.

Mr Baird even said he was minded to ignore the review’s findings if they suggested rolling back the laws. “It is going to take a lot for me to change my mind on a policy that is so clearly improving this city.”

However, not everyone in his cabinet has been singing from the same hymn sheet. In July, Justice Minister Troy Grant said last drinks was more effective than lockouts.

“If Callinan recommends pushing the lockouts back, I think it’s something we absolutely should do.”

Already, the law has begun to fray around the edges with pokie rooms able to trade later into the night, so long as alcohol isn’t served, and live music venues exempted following a court case in August.

Data from the NSW Government’s Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) showed non domestic related assaults in Kings Cross have fallen 45 per cent since the lockouts came into force and 20 per cent in the rest of the CBD which is also covered by the laws.

The local St Vincent’s Hospital has reported a dropped in admissions relating from late night violence. While research released in August by the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE) — a staunch supporter of the lockouts — said claims about large numbers of businesses going bankrupt were “wildly exaggerated,” foot traffic had only fallen after 1.30am and then by less that 20 per cent.

“The alcohol industry has attempted to paint a picture of a city that’s empty, businesses shuttered, employment prospects bleak, alcohol-related harm still unchecked, and spilling into adjoining neighbourhoods. But the evidence to the contrary is overwhelming,” said FARE Chief Executive Michael Thorn.

(L-R) Leroy Lee and Joe Gould formed The Lock Outlaws band to protest the Baird Government's lockout laws. They are standing outside the Flinders, one of Sydney’s closed pubs. Picture: Craig Wilson

The organisation recommended expanding the current laws across NSW.

However, anti-lockout campaigners aren’t impressed by the numbers being bandied round. “FARE’s report was a complete work of fiction and misrepresented the impact on Sydney night-life,” said Mr Koh who claimed at least 20 venues had closed down since the law reforms came into force.

“Our streets weren’t carnage, it was manageable, but instead of providing adequate services to manage night-life (the government) whacked a curfew on the city instead and that was really disappointing.”

A reduction in assaults may have happened, say critics, but it was hardly surprising with a big closed sign hung above the city and people staying away in droves.

A number of venues have directly cited reduced foot traffic as the reason why they closed even including a distinctly alcohol-free newsagent on the gay strip of Oxford St.

In the City of Sydney’s submission to the review, Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the situation in Kings Cross had indeed been “worsening” with the problem being a saturation of liquor licences in a small area and reduced accountability.

The state government’s reaction, however, was wrong from the beginning, she said. And it should never have excluded the enormous Star City casino — and exception so jarring it earned Premier Mike Baird the nickname, Casino Mike.

“It was a sledgehammer when what we needed was a well-researched, evidence based, flexible response using transport, planning, licensing and police,” said Ms Moore.

The city has proposed a 12-month trial exempting well-run venues from the lockout, applying 3am last drinks only on a case-by-case basis and increasing train services throughout the night to entertainment precinct as has happened in Melbourne.

Minister Grant said the government will now consider the report and

deliver its response before the end of the year.