Culture, Casinos & Coward Punches: ‘The Feed’ Special Tackles Lockout Laws

And boy oh boy, did they hit on nearly every issue for and against the laws.

The central tension between advocates and detractors of the laws has always been the need to reduce violence versus the impact those measures have on culture and business. With Michael Christie present, the onus was on Koh to justify the anti-lockout standpoint. 

On that conflict, he said “it is a difficult position, and I think that’s why it took two years to get people on the street,” but that “essentially what we’ve done is we’ve gone for the bluntest tool in the toolbox to remedy this problem.” 

The “blunt tool” he mentioned is represented by the dramatic drop in foot traffic in Sydney’s Kings Cross district, which has reduced the incidence of not just violence, but of every late-night activity. 

Koh’s counter, as it has been for some time, is that “we need to investigate the culture of activities that go alongside alcohol.”

There’s a lot of heated debate on #TheFeedSBS tonight at 7.30pm for our Feed Forum special on the lockout laws pic.twitter.com/GG32DrW6zO

— The Feed SBS (@TheFeedSBS) March 22, 2016

Christie somewhat agreed, saying he presumed there were better or more effective methods of reducing late-night violence, but the significant drop in injuries partially justifies the current measures. 

Both doctors on the panel said the laws were worthwhile too. Grabs said “our workers were getting really tired of patching up people as a result of alcohol and the violence,” and “since the lockout laws, our emergency department is a completely different place.” 

Emergency departments across Syd CBD have changed dramatically since the lockout laws: more on #TheFeedSBS at 7.30 pic.twitter.com/NiujIL0wPn

— The Feed SBS (@TheFeedSBS) March 22, 2016

Libertarian-leaning Leyonhjelm took issue with that perception. He said “the rest of the world still drinks alcohol – is there something about Sydney people that means they need to be treated like children and sent home to bed early?”

The concept of experiencing the “early” part of the night was reiterated by several business owners who said the lockouts had somewhat ‘refined’ the taste of the affected precincts, and that lost businesses would be replaced by ones taking advantage of an earlier night-time economy. 

That was also the perception given by Crossing, who was adamant the lockout laws were beneficial for those actually living in the area. However, after she brought up an increase in small bars since 2007, Koh said he recalled her group standing against those same bars at the time. 

Victims of assault including Stephanie McCarthy and representatives from the lockout-free Melbourne also had their say against the laws in what proved to be an absolutely chock-a-block hour of discussion. While the program could have gone for hours longer, delving deeper into topics as nuanced as the exemptions given to casinos or the effect of 24-hour public transport, it gave a pretty damn good impression of the directions the official roundtable will be heading in.

Hopefully, by the end of all it all, we might just be able to find Koh’s fabled middle ground.