Keep Queensland Open Is Holding One Last Anti-Lockouts Rally
Before those looming laws finally hit the city.
Like spending your nights having a drink with your mates or watching live bands in Brisbane's bars? Keen to kick on into the early hours and be able to move between venues? Come July 1, heading out for an evening of fun is about to get a whole lot tougher. You've probably been dreading the date for months — but there's at least something you can do about it.
The folks at Keep Queensland Open have organised one last rally to protest the new lockout laws that the State Government are particularly keen to see implemented. From 2pm on Sunday, June 26 at Reddacliff Place in the CBD, you can join in the chorus of dissent. And yes, you'll be doing so in the cement space adjacent to the Treasury Casino for a reason.
While stopping re-entry at 1pm, serving last drinks at 2am (or 3am in designated entertainment precincts), banning shots after midnight and making new bottle shops close at 10pm were never going to be popular moves, the furore surrounding the new rules doesn't just focus on when everyone can consume alcohol.
Sydney's lockout laws have seen almost half the revenue from live music venues in the designated zones disappear. Half. The question of where the laws apply is also controversial, with casinos across Queensland exempt from the new restrictions (the same situation Sydney's in). Given that the legislation is designed to curb anti-social behaviour following too many violent, late-night altercations in these areas, that's certainly a questionable move — and something worth joining fellow revellers to shout about.
The Keep Queensland Open Rally starts at 2pm on Sunday. June 26 at Reddacliff Place in the CBD. For more information, visit the event's Facebook page.
