Been anywhere near the internet over the past couple of days? Then you’ve definitely seen the growing storm forming over the head of NSW Premier Mike Baird.
Baird’s Liberal State Government has been copping it on all fronts over Sydney‘s extremely controversial lockout laws, which both business owners and the general public are asserting has effectively killed off nightlife in inner Sydney and turned the city into a veritable ghost town after dark.
Baird, for his part, has constantly hung his hat on the lowered rate of assaults within the lockout zone – though the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics states that the figures Baird has been using are a little misleading. Meanwhile, criticism remains rampant over the State Government’s approval of the Packer-backed Casino project at Barangaroo which would sport a 24-hour liquor license, despite lying within the heart of the lockout zone. The #CasinoMike trend that’s fired up has seen people take the ever-loving piss out of Baird in that regard.
NovaFM brought the Premier in this morning to talk with Fitzy & Wippa about the controversy and the swell of negative public opinion for the first time since Baird’s lengthy, head-in-the-sand-ish Facebook post that claimed Sydney’s nightlife was as vibrant as ever.
Pointing to similar trial laws in Newcastle as a test case, Baird doggedly defended the legislation, and stated that even though it’s due for revue, it’s unlikely that the Government will budge on the matter.
Mike Baird responds to lockout law criticism on Fitzy & Wippa
Premier Mike Baird has spoken for the first time since his Facebook post about the controversial lockout laws. Should they stay or should they go?
Posted by Fitzy & Wippa on Wednesday, 10 February 2016
Pretty telling that the Premier’s response to an actually very well thought-out and considered question from a caller concerning alternative methods of implementing safety measures in entertainment precincts was to dive straight back to “but assaults are down” rhetoric.
If only there were a previous Liberal Party leader of some kind who used sloganistic repetition and misleading statistics that Baird could look to as a test case…
Source: NovaFM/Facebook.
