NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell has just announced tough new lockout laws for Sydney's CBD and Kings Cross.
The 1:30am lockout, billed as a crackdown on alcohol-related violence after the high-profile deaths of teenagers Daniel Christie and Thomas Kelly, will apply to all licensed venues and clubs across an expanded Sydney CBD entertainment precinct, spanning from Kings Cross to Darling Harbour.
Drinks will no longer be served after 3am, but venues can choose to remain open. Bottle shops will close at 10pm. Small bars — defined as bars with a capacity of less than 60 people — and casinos are exempt from the new laws.
"[We will do] whatever it takes to get the message through to people across NSW that it is no longer acceptable to go out and drink yourself stupid, take illicit substances, start fights, 'coward punch' people or engage in other assaults, thinking you won't get away with it," Mr O'Farrell told a press conference.
The new laws include increased mandatory sentences for assault and steroid possession. Fatal 'one punch' assaults, like the ones that killed Christie and Kelly, will be met with a mandatory minimum jail sentence of eight years.
The legislation still has to be pushed through Parliament, but if all goes to O'Farrell's plan, the laws could be in operation by February 1.
The deaths of Christie and Kelly were always going to result in political action, but a 1:30am lockout? Even the Queensland government would raise an eyebrow at that one.
(Via Music Feeds)
