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| illawara, NSW, Australia |
The city was showing him slideshows of everywhere that had ever been important. In some sort of canny, but not uncomforting way. After a meeting in the Cross one night he drove around and around the block looking for somewhere to park before meeting up at the Tropicana. Around and around the block they had gone; merciless savages, demons on the hunt. The area had become famous, or even more infamous, since the Christmas season, when a vacuum of news and the poor quality of newspapers allowed for an hysterical media driven campaign over "alcohol-fuelled violence"; followed by stories on Barry O'Farrell shutting down Sydney, which was effectively what he was doing.
A news blind and grieving relatives backed by an idiotic media were a poor basis on which to create legislation which would alter the social fabric and the lives of tens of thousands of people, but that is exactly what they had done.
The police were pleased with the new laws.
The police were always pleased with legislation which handed them yet more power; and the law and order drum beaten by state governments of all polical persusasians, cheap populism, would always influence the shaping realities of the Nanny State of Australia.
Sydney as an international destinastion? He didn't think so.
Nothing to do, nowhere to go.
You could shoot a cannon down half the streets of Sydney at 10pm and hit not a soul. Most of the bars were empty; joining the disintegrating shops and the ailing economy. A place that could have once been rich, but now was poor.
O'Farrell was unimpressive in Opposiition and unimpressive as Premier. He had heard the outrage of the people, he declared. He had in fact heard the concocted faux outrage of the media, but was too opportunistic and nasty minded to bother fighting against the tide.
We'd all be in bed by 10pm soon enough.
And under the cloak, the mantle of Russian style austerity, the country that was once fun but was fun no longer, giant parties would brew, and the resentment and frustration would build, and there would be a damn sight more harm done than a few young men behaving badly on a night out could ever do.
THE BIGGER STORY:
O’Farrell shuts down Sydney
The NSW government’s package of liquor regulation has met with strong criticism from operators, drinkers and freedom advocates.
Premier Barry O’Farrell announced on Tuesday that 1.30am lockouts and 3am “last drinks” will be imposed on most venues in Sydney’s CBD. In a statewide crackdown, bottle shops will also be forced to close at 10pm.
In addition, mandatory minimum sentences of eight years will apply for anyone convicted of a one-punch assault occasioning death. The maximum penalty will be 20 years, but will be extended to 25 years where drugs or alcohol are involved.
The licensing restrictions will be imposed across an expanded Sydney precinct that takes in most of the CBD, Kings Cross and Oxford Street. Barangaroo and the Star casino are not included in the zone.
The conditions are similar to the so-called “Newcastle solution” which has been heralded as reducing violent incidents in the northern city.
Announcing the suite of measures on Tuesday, the premier said a recent spate of alcohol-related violence required a “concerted effort by government and its agencies, by the alcohol industry and by the community”. He said the package announced this week would “make the difference and start the change”.
“We’re sending a message today that misuse and abuse of alcohol and drugs are going to be less tolerated,” Mr O’Farrell said.
The premier said small bars and restaurants would be exempt from lockouts and last-drinks restrictions. But only a handful of bars are classed under the government’s new “small bar” licence for venues with a capacity of less than 60 patrons. Most smaller bars, which have capacity of up to 120, come under the regular bar licence.
“This is not about penalising responsible drinkers,” Mr O’Farrell said.
But the announcement sparked a barrage of resistance from patrons, musicians and operators who felt they were being penalised.
“Limiting choice for everyone is an absurd reaction. We don’t do it in any other field,” said Dan Nolan, a developer and entrepreneur who patronises venues in the CBD and Surry Hills.
“Internationally it makes us a joke. The only other city that does something similar is San Francisco and it is widely reviled for it.”
Henry Ho, licensee at Charlie Chan’s Bar on George Street, said the changes would have a huge impact, particularly on tourism.
“We close at 6am. Our peak hours are from 3 o’clock onwards. What will they do? Drink water?” he asked. “Sydney will become like a country town.”
Stephan Gyory of the 2010 Business Partnership said the laws would punish the wrong people.
“It’s the bozos doing it, not the venues,” he told City News. “It’s a collective punishment for everyone, not just the nutcases.”
Incoming Freedom Commissioner Tim Wilson condemned the policy as disappointing.
“Stopping street violence is not achieved through arbitrary restrictions on the individual liberty of law-abiding citizens in the hope that it may reduce criminal behaviour amongst a small number of individuals,” he said.
Mr Wilson noted that non-domestic assaults in Kings Cross are not rising, and said the lockout policy had previously failed in Victoria.
Mr O’Farrell will also increase penalties for offences such as using “offensive language” ($500) and supplying illegal steroids (up to 25 years imprisonment).
Paul Gregoire contributed reporting
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