According to the SMH, he and his staff of 70 are now considering a class-action lawsuit against the NSW government, as the lockout laws have forced them into redundancy. Hugo’s had been open and successful for 15 years, and had never received any strikes for alcohol-related incidents under the state government’s ‘three strike’ liquor licensing rules.
Evans, who is the brother of celebrity chef Pete Evans, said that after the lockout laws began in Kings Cross in 2012, he saw a 60% decline in revenue, and an 80% drop in customers.
This percentage cited by Evans is particularly interesting, as the lockouts have been heralded a success for cutting down alcohol-related violence by a third. So if there’s 80% less people attending licensed venues, why are violent acts only dropping by 33%? If one walks around Kings Cross any night of the week now (including Friday and Saturday nights), there is, comparatively to before the lockout laws began, very few people on the street.
In the same period, booze-related assaults in Pyrmont have doubled, and risen by two thirds in Newtown. Not to mention the constant reports of members in the LGBTI community in Newtown being targeted for assault, which was previously unheard of.
Ya’ll haven’t fixed shit, NSW Government. You’re just moving people on to different areas, different venues. We told you this was going to happen.
Evans and his staff will be joined by libertarian senator David Leyonhjelm and Kings Cross Liquor Accord‘s Doug Grand, to announce details of the class-action lawsuit on Thursday.
via SMH
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