Overview
Keep everything crossed for King Street. At a parliamentary inquiry held on Wednesday, a NSW Police Association submission recommended that lockout laws be rolled out across 'alcohol-fuelled crime hotspots’ across the state (Newtown, Erko, you’re on the list), that all on-licensed premises be closed at midnight and that the state government introduce minimum 'per standard drink' pricing across NSW.
The inquiry, which received submissions from 113 individuals and organisations, is investigating the impact of the 'CBD entertainment precinct' lockout laws. Instigated by then NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell and implemented on February 24, the laws enforce 1:30am lockouts and 3am last drinks in licensed venues of 60+ capacity.
So what's brought on these new recommendations? The Police Association states that it has been approached by "Newtown and Erskinville residents who report that the issues relating to alcohol related crime and antisocial behaviour in Newtown are the same as in Kings Cross and the CBD. This is not a displacement affect (sic.) but they indicate it has been a problem for some time due to the 24-hour licensed premises in the area."
The submission presented statistics suggesting that the laws have led to a drop in non-domestic assaults. Between February and August, it argues, assaults in Kings Cross decreased by 36 percent, when compared to the same period in 2013. However, on Thursday, the state's top crime statistician and director of the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, Don Weatherburn, stated emphatically that the evidence doesn't hold up.
"Gratuitously picking a pair of points and saying, 'well, compared to this time last year, things are a lot better,' is not a satisfactory basis for judging whether the lockout laws are working," he told the SMH. He also asserted that the figures "bounce around quite a bit" and proposed that the overall reduction in violence had started well before the laws came into effect.
The inquiry's response, in the form of a report and recommendations, is expected to hit parliament in November.