Overview
Throughout Sydneysiders' battle against the NSW government's restrictive lockout laws, Keep Sydney Open has been the biggest ally and loudest voice for the city's nightlife. It has held rally after rally, hosted suburb-wide parties and has gone head-to-head with politicians.
Now, the nightlife lobby group is solidifying its legitimacy and taking its battle to state parliament — it's now officially registered as a political party, and will be running at next year's NSW state election, which will be held on Saturday, March 23, 2019.
KSO announced its new status via a Facebook video on Tuesday, June 5, and released a statement on its website saying, "what started as a movement to protect Sydney's nightlife has morphed into something bigger — the lockouts were just one symptom of a broader sickness in NSW politics."
While we can assume its stance on nightlife, the party's opinions on other state matters are yet to be revealed. These will be just as important to take into consideration in the lead-up to the election.
To celebrate, the newly formed political party is — in true KSO-style — throwing a huge party on Saturday, June 30.
The appropriately dubbed Party Party, which will be held across all six levels of the Kings Cross Hotel, will feature DJ sets from big-names Roland Tings and Basenji, as well as Triple J presenter Luen Jacobs and music collective Body Type DJs. A slew of local DJs and party crews are also slated to join the lineup.
Tickets to the party cost $30, with all proceeds going to support Keep Sydney Open's political campaign, and can be purchased here.
Image: Kimberley Low