DJ: Lockout laws make Sydney a ‘laughing stock’
AAP
Renowned DJ Alison Wonderland says her home town of Sydney has become ‘a laughing stock internationally’ due to the city’s strict lockout laws.
The legislation, imposed in 2014 after the one-punch deaths of Daniel Christie and Thomas Kelly, sees central Sydney venues required to turn patrons away from 1.30am.
They must serve final drinks by 3am while shots and takeaway alcohol cannot be purchased after 10pm.
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As a result, Sydney’s nightlife and global reputation has taken a hit, but that did not stop NSW Premier Mike Baird from defending the laws on Facebook this week in response to growing criticism.
Mr Baird claimed that “alcohol related assaults have decreased by 42.2 per cent in the CBD since we have introduced the lock-out laws”.
He added: “The number of small bars in Sydney has more than doubled in the same time period.
“There has been a growing hysteria this week about nightlife in Sydney.
“The main complaints seem to be that you can’t drink till dawn any more and you can’t impulse-buy a bottle of white after 10pm.
“I understand that this presents an inconvenience. Some say that this makes us an international embarrassment.
“Except, assaults are down by 42.2 per cent. And there is nothing embarrassing about that.”
Wonderland does not agree with the laws, though, and took to Facebook to pen an open letter to her 286,000 followers on Wednesday.
She said the city’s reputation had taken a “f***ing battering” and that Sydney was now a “nanny state” and a “ghost town”.