Former high court judge Ian Callinan will head a scheduled review of Sydney’s lockout laws, the Baird government has announced, as backlash over the laws grows.
The laws include 1.30am lockouts, 3am last drinks in certain areas of Sydney and a statewide ban on sale of takeaway liquor after 10pm.
Justice minister Troy Grant launched the review on Thursday, and said it would “provide an independent, open and transparent assessment of the state’s liquor laws, focusing on the facts, to advise the NSW government on the future of these laws”.
The review is required by legislation that introduced the lockout laws passed on 30 January 2014. Callinan is due to complete his report by August 2016.
The 1.30am lockouts and 3am last drinks laws which apply in Kings Cross and Sydney’s CBD have elicited complaints they have dampened Sydney’s nightlife, and they notably exclude the Star casino and the site of a second planned casino at Barangaroo. Assaults at Star have spiked since the introduction of the laws.
The review’s terms of reference include examination of the impacts on alcohol-related violence and other harms, and impacts on business, patrons and community amenity in the Sydney CBD, Kings Cross and “displacement areas”.
The review will also consider the periodic licensing fee system for NSW licensed venues.
On Tuesday the premier, Mike Baird, lauded the lockout laws in a Facebook post, trumpeting a 42.2% decline in alcohol-related violence in the CBD and a 60% decline in Kings Cross since the lockout laws were introduced.
Baird’s post attracted more than 14,000 comments, many of which were highly critical of lockout laws.
One commenter asked “has violence increased in other areas? The trouble seems to have just moved to other suburbs. Been to Newtown on a Friday night lately?”
“Violence is down because nobody’s going out. Oh except for the casino, which has more violent incidents than most other venues,” wrote another.
And another: “Mike Baird you are an utter disgrace and you do not represent Sydney justly. Step down before you do any more damage to what was once a vibrant and beautiful city. This nanny nation is becoming a complete and utter joke!”
On Twitter, critics have adopted the hashtag #casinomike in reference to Star City casino’s exemption from the lockout laws.
It's about time we all expose the real truth behind the #Sydney #lockout #laws #casinomike pic.twitter.com/TTte8N0u0y
— costavakas (@costavakas) February 10, 2016
Others have questioned why comments critical of the lockout have been removed from Baird’s Facebook post.
The comments on @mikebairdMP's Facebook are disappearing even faster than his political career. #casinomike
— Brendan Maclean (@macleanbrendan) February 9, 2016
#CasinoMike decided to delete my comment on his propaganda FB post. Very unimpressed @mikebairdMP. #weknowthetruth pic.twitter.com/3brcBNEzwf
— Natasha Stuart (@NatashaStuart) February 9, 2016
Baird said he awaited the work of the review with interest. “But as I’ve said before, it is going to take a lot for me to change my mind on a policy that is so clearly improving this city,” he wrote.
Justice minister Grant said the review “does not have a foregone conclusion – it will be guided by the evidence and the experiences of the people of Sydney and NSW”.
“Hearing from the public and all interested stakeholders will be a crucial component of the Callinan review and I encourage anyone who has a view to express it in writing,” he said.
Callinan will be assisted in the review by senior counsel Jonathan Horton, tourism agency Destination NSW, the NSW Police Force, NSW Health, Liquor and Gaming NSW, Treasury and Premier and Cabinet.
