Face of Nation : A NSW MP has launched a campaign to end Sydney’s lockout laws, despite her own party supporting the regulations.
Labor’s Rose Jackson, backed by Jo Haylen, has contravened her party’s pro lockout law stance, arguing that the restrictions are “strangling Sydney’s nightlife” and need to change.
Ms Jackson, who was elected to the Legislative Council by her party in April, said she believes Labor MPs have the right to raise issues about the party’s policy direction.
“Our NSW Labor colleagues have been receptive to our campaign, recognising our interest in pursuing an open and respectful dialogue within the Party about whether we should continue to support these laws,” she said.
NSW Labor have supported the lockout laws since its inception in 2014 when Liberal Premier Barry O’Farrell introduced the legislation to curb alcohol fuelled violence in the city. The laws require 1.30am lockouts and 3am last drinks at bars, pubs and clubs in the Sydney CBD.
Since the introduction of the laws, non-domestic assaults have dropped by almost 50 per cent in Kings Cross, and 12 per cent in the CBD. Those against restrictions argue this has come at the cost of the Sydney’s nightlife, with a reduction is crime simply a result of less people in the area.
As of May last year, Sydney has had a net loss of 176 venues since the lockout laws were brought in, including landmark venues like Hugos Lounge in Kings Cross and The Flinders Hotel in Darlinghurst.
The city’s night-time economy, which is currently valued at $27 billion a year, could be worth up to $43 billion, according to a Deloitte Access Economics report released early this year.
Ms Jackson said the laws have created a ghost town across the CBD, affecting employment.
“The major failings of the lockout regime is that it is a heavy-handed stifling of Sydney’s dynamic night economy,” she said.
“These laws are also having the effect of limiting employment opportunities for young people – both up and coming musicians who rely on smaller values for early gigs, and hospitality workers who are struggling to get shifts as the number of venues collapse in the inner city,” she said.
Ms Jackson’s campaign follows Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s creation of a cross-party parliamentary committee in May to examine the lockout laws as part of a review of the city’s night-time economy.
The committee is accepting submissions from stakeholders and the public until this Tuesday.
Ms Jackson said the committee has so-far received 200 submissions.
“[This] shows the depth of feeling in the community regarding these laws,” she said.
