NSW LIQUOR LAWS

Commerce Law and Society
Part B
Identification
On Tuesday 21st of January 2014, fierce new liquor laws for NSW were passed in Parliament. This legislation was put forward by NSW premier, Barry O’Farrell, who responded to the extensive public outcry following the death of two assault victims.
This legislation states that a closing time of 10pm will be introduced to all bottle shops, and a lock out time of 1:30 am will be enforced at licensed venues in Sydney’s CBD. However it does not stop here, this package also includes the service of alcoholic drinks ceasing at 3am state-wide.
Due to the negative image from the extensive binge drinking that is depicted by the media, a freeze has been in placed on new liquor licences, and in attempt to ease the accumulation of drunk crowds, free buses will run every 10 minutes on Friday and Saturday from the popular drinking culture, hot spot, Kings Cross. All these changes that have been imposed from February 24th across central Sydney, has created an enormous response from the public.

Discussion
All of these amendments were created in attempt to avoid irresponsible behaviour often associated with heavy drinking and alcohol-fuelled violence in NSW.
According to an article from www.health.gov.au “One study reported that alcohol is involved in 62% of all police attendances, 73% of assaults, 77% of street offences, 40% of domestic violence incidents and 90% of late-night calls, from 10.00pm to 2.00am.”

Although there are few exceptions to the legislation, it is strongly believed these rules will severely disadvantage Sydney’s nightlife industry. The effects on its night time income will be catastrophic, with many business owners in the small bar sectors being outraged. Much of their income is made between 1am – 3am, which is when the ban is enforced.

Personal Opinion
I believe this legislation is essential for reducing the amount of intoxicated, alcohol-fuelled violence, which occurs on Sydney streets. The positive impacts of these new measures will not only rid Australia of their bad drinking culture, but will lead to the prevention of many deaths which is why, not only myself but much of the public are grateful for these changes. Mr Kelly, father of Thomas Kelly, victim to a king hit in Kings Cross 2012, said "It's sad we had to bring in this change and that our community has to have these laws but if that's the only way we can... make cultural change and social change and stop thugs from hitting people, then so be it." He finally received a sense of peace after the loss of his son and was grateful for the changes happening in our community.

Although there will be repercussions of this amendment that will affect the income for many working in Sydney’s nightlife industry. A Kings Cross security guard reinforces this idea when he is quoted in ABC news stating “One of the food stores have already closed down across the road”. The impacts on small businesses are catastrophic, and the closing of many more are yet to come.
In my opinion, the media sensationalization of alcohol related violence creates a public outcry for strict changes to alcohol laws. I speculate that this outcry being heard by the Australian government they must conform to appease the public. That being said I also believe that due to research conducted by various experts, these amendments are necessary to promote safer environment for Australians and visitors to this country. It is unfortunate that this new amendment affects nightlife businesses, which in turn will affect the economy, but I continue to believe that it is a sacrifice that is essential to improve the quality of life.

Evaluation
One of the many positive outcomes of this amendment is the promotion of safety for many exposed to Sydney’s after hour violence. It has been created in attempt to lower the death toll of alcohol abuse in Australia, which is clearly identified in the table below from www.health.gov.au. It states that alcohol abuse (besides other) holds the highest percentage proportion death total in 2003.

Table 3: Deaths and burden (DALYs) attributable to alcohol by specific cause, Australia, 2003

Alcohol has also been a factor in:
One in three (30%) sexual offences
One in three (33%) burglaries
One in two (50%) street crimes.
And with the strict rules in places, it will help in reducing alcohol related crime.

The health of young Australians will also improve with the reduction of opportunities to excessively binge drink. In 2004-2005 statistics from the national health survey showed that over 88% of the general Australian population have binged drink at least once in the past year. Binge drinking can affect your mood and you memory, and can lead to serious mental health problems in the long-run. With the implement on these stricter rules in our society, the health of many improves.

However positives these outcomes may seem, there are also real threats imposed on Sydney’s nightlife economy. These amendments put pressure on already struggling businesses, penalizing some of those, which may not have any involvement with the recent violence.
The opinion of the social media is also clear,

“ 1:30am lockout is a joke. The only thing it will do is dent Sydney's nighttime economy.”
@alexcauchi January 21, 2014 “1.30am lockout? RIP Sydney ”
@VinceRugari

Shaun Ewing “Daniel Christie was assaulted at 9pm, Thomas Kelly at 10pm. I'm having issues figuring out how a 1am lockout in Sydney will stop this.”

The public argues the denting of Sydney’s nighttime economy will outweigh the possible positive outcomes and that this lockout is unnecessary and will not serve its purposes of promoting safety. They believe this will not only affect the economy but will ultimately ‘kill’ night life in Sydney.