Our Solution
What is the problem?
The cases of extreme violence on our streets are a major social issue.
What is the outcome of this problem?
The violence on our streets place an immediate strain on police and ambulance resources.
What is the solution?
We understand that there is a problem in the entertainment district but we know that a lockout or a lockdown is not the solution. Rather than put a band-aid on a festering wound that simply does not heal, we think that it will be more proactive of the Queensland Government if proper initiative was taken to address the true issues at the heart of the problem.
Here are our proposed solutions:
- Come together as a community
We ask that we all come together as a community and work towards a safer environment with greater respect displayed towards our fellow man. We ask all patrons treat our entertainment precincts like a venue. It is our very own entertainment area, and to continue to treat it and the other patrons with disrespect and violent intentions merely harms the rest of the community.
We ask for self government. We ask that each person take personal responsibility of their own behaviour. Ignorance, disrespect or being drunk or is not an excuse.
- Harsher penalties to be implemented
We ask for governments and venues to impose harsher penalties against anti-social and aggressive behaviour. Currently, offenders only get a slap on the wrist. We demand harsher penalties and jail time to weed out any violence on our streets.
- An increase in police presence
We ask for an increased presence in the police force.
Fortitude Valley, Brisbane is currently the biggest entertainment precinct in Queensland. On Saturday, Fortitude Valley can have over 20,000 patrons in the area with only 15 police officers patrolling the area. That is 1 police officer per 1,300 people! The biggest deterrent of trouble is the police and an increased presence will most certainly keep people in check.
- An increase in security
We ask for an increase in security to our entertainment precincts.
Currently, clubs and local councils ensure venues are well secured with the help of professional security companies and cctv. We would like to see an increase in security extended beyond the venue’s premises to the boundaries of our entertainment precincts with extra security, chaplains and CCTV as a deterrent to violence on our streets.
- An introduction of ID Scanners to our entertainment precincts
We ask for ID Scanners to be introduced into our entertainment precincts.
ID Scanners are currently being introduced into clubs all around Europe and the United States and have also been able to identify fake 18+ IDs to prevent underage customers from entering the premises. The ID Scanners will keep a record on all patrons entering a venue and act as a deterrent for troublemakers. A banning system can also be developed to keep track of troublemakers.
- The introduction of chillout areas in entertainment districts across Queensland
We turn to the assistance and generosity of our health workers, charities and aid organisations to assist our community with the introduction of chillout areas to our entertainment districts. We ask for separate areas to be put aside for people to escape from the streets and when they are stuck in our entertainment districts. We ask for these areas to be divided into 3 x zones: Zone 1 for those who are with friends, Zone 2 for those who wish to be left alone and Zone 3 for those who require immediate medical assistance.
November 13, 2009 - 5:09 pm
i believe the clubs should b open til no earlier than 7am even if they cant serve grog after 5am clubs should b able 2 stay open longer so ppl can leave when they like the women r more protected as its daylight by 7am puttin the shutdown 2 2am will cause major problems many ppl will b pissed b4 they head out n some will b refused which in turn causes alot of trouble the police just cant do anything right when it comes 2 this issue
November 15, 2009 - 8:39 pm
I completely agree with the facts and the solution on this website.
I go out every few weeks into the Valley and sometimes I do see fights. But I have NEVER seen a fight inside a club or bar.
However, what I do see is clusters of people hanging around on the streets at 4am angry and waiting for the next train.
On an average Friday or Saturday night, there are around 80,000 people in the valley, and 2am is at the peak of busyness. So in order to “crack down on violence and binge drinking,” the Queensland government is trying to close all clubs and bars at 2am, forcing 80,000 intoxicated people onto the streets at the same time.
There are so many problems with this:
November 15, 2009 - 8:46 pm
I completely agree with the facts and the solution on this website.
I go out every few weeks into the Valley and sometimes I do see fights. But I have NEVER seen a fight inside a club or bar.
However, what I do see is clusters of people hanging around on the streets at 4am angry and waiting for the next train.
On an average Friday or Saturday night, there are around 80,000 people in the valley, and 2am is at the peak of busyness. So in order to “crack down on violence and binge drinking,” the Queensland government is trying to close all clubs and bars at 2am, forcing 80,000 intoxicated people onto the streets at the same time.
There are so many problems with this:
1. People will be at their peak point of intoxication and more likely to get into fights.
2. People will be angry at having to wait 2 and a half hours for the next train, or midday the next day for a taxi.
3. People will try and consume the same amount of alcohol in a much smaller frame of time, therefore making “binge drinking” much worse and people will be far more intoxicated and more ambulances will be needed.
4. How do they actually plan on dealing with 80,000 people on the streets waiting to leave at the same time?
So, if the government can address these issues, and still manage to close clubs at 2am, they have done a brilliant job or causing hardship to nightclub workers and would have angered tens of thousands of clubbers.
An actual solution to this “problem” would be to open clubs even earlier, and leave them open even later and abolishing the current 3am lockout.
This would allow people to come and go whenever they wish. And by keeping people happy, there will be a lot less fights and violence in the valley.
The government needs to stop creating so many quick fixes to these so called “problems,” even though we have much less violence than other countries.
it is time we got our freedom back and started living in Australia again!!!
November 16, 2009 - 10:49 pm
I think this is an overreaction. To write a story like this you must first have the facts. No government minister has actually suggested the 2 am lockdown. The head of the Queensland police said this would be his solution because they do not have the man power to deal with the weekend crowds. The government has said that they will support this idea IF they find it a vialbe solution: meaning they will investigate and make a risk assesment of this ’solution’.
I dont agree with the 2 am shutdown as it will cause more harm than good. But i doubt it will ever happen. There are too many ramifications – ie the money lost (taxes) from clubs being closed so early would be too great, not to mention jobs lost. i agree with some of your solutions but you cant rely on drunk and drugged patrons to ‘draw together as a community’ or ask for more police when lack of [olice man power is the reason this lockdown has been proposed. I think you need to become more aware of public affairs before publishing next time.
November 18, 2009 - 12:16 pm
In line with your idea of chill-out areas, a focus must be placed on hydration of patrons. Your idea involves others helping, where it would be more economical to simply empower the patrons to take care of this. Build these areas in clubs, as in public they will serve as a trap for police arrests and people will be deterred from using them. You do not need charities, and ‘helping’- no one is sympathetic to drunken morons, it is self inflicted damage. A few new and simple — yet very large fines must be introduced ie. Not providing free water to patrons should be mate illegal, as should only having hot water taps in nightclubs. It is highly negligent, and level of hydration is a key determinant of the state which patrons are in when the leave the clubs.
November 23, 2009 - 6:03 pm
@Monique:
Firstly: We had the same attitude about 3am lockout – that it would never happen – and it did happen. We should not be so complacent as to allow this to happen again.
Secondly: All roads are leading to the government seriously considering the option of a 2am shutdown. We need to send out a very clear and serious message to government that even considering the 2am shutdown will have repercussions. This is a proposal that should not even be considered.
December 16, 2009 - 6:47 pm
It has been a while since I have been out in the Valley though I live here. I have been saddened to see the culture of the Valley nightlife dramatically change over the past few years as the behaviour, which was so often seen in the City Clubs, has moved to the Valley.
I’m against the 2 am lockout and many of the so called solutions including and especially the introduction of plastic cups. Why aren’t these change makers looking at the actual causes?
Can anyone remember that The Valley was actually famous for its live music scene? I think by getting rid of all the music venues, pool tables and dance floors what have we left for the financially endowed youth of today? Bars bars and more bars. And really what is left to do but drink, shag and fight?
If there are particularly problematic venues, perhaps it’s time to look a little more closely at what sort of entertainment they are offering.
December 16, 2009 - 6:50 pm
One last offering.. one only needs to visit London to see what closing venues early produces…
February 6, 2010 - 12:10 am
Weekend violence and vandalism is a huge problem in Bundaberg. A few years ago all the local venues banded together to create a Liquor Accord, and worked with the police to implement strict punishments for anti-social patrons (ie, life-long bans from venues or even from the entire Accord), and it really seems to have made a difference. Is there anything like this Brisbane?
February 24, 2010 - 12:28 am
Changing the limit to 2am is only going to make people want to get ‘as smashed as possible’ before the lockout. Everyone that I know, including myself, aim to get into the valley at around 11pm. Think about this from the point of view of a half drunk person whose plan for the night is to have some drinks and have a good time with mates: get into the valley and only have roughly three hours until you have to go home – What are you going to do in those 3 hours..? How much faster are you going to be drinking..?
If this law is passed, the repercussions will be intense for the next few years. Even I get pretty annoyed when we’re on our way to our final club and we are told that it’s just past lockout and that we have nothing to do but go home. We’re all drunk and all want to get into a club and stay there for a while until we we’re all exhausted and want to head home. But instead we get turned onto the street – now, we’re pretty pissed off, still pretty drunk, have to somehow get home even though the public transport isn’t running (forces everyone to congregate on the streets) and we have to face hundreds of others who are in the exact frame of mind (drunk and angry because of the lockout and lack of ability to get home).
I think that if the trains were running 24 hours on a friday and saturday night it would make a big difference, but we need to crack down on the individual trouble makers.
My friend and I almost got into a fight because we defended a girl who had a full can of jim beam pegged at her face from about 2m away. This idiot was doing something illegal to start with, and through that one incident, he’d almost started a bloody riot and had runined about 6 people’s nights. It’s people like this that need to be dealt with if we want to stop the general violence. Nab the idiots who insight the violence and basically get everyone into the ‘I wanna fight some dude’ mood.
March 2, 2010 - 10:59 pm
I think the ideas suggested here should be implemented but also the problem of alcohol culture needs to be addressed. In addition to the advertising campaign against binge drinking, the fines for venues selling alcohol to people who are already blind drunk should be more strictly applied. Everyone should be able to have a few drinks throughout the night but the fact that a lot of people in most venues is so drunk they cannot take care of themselves or that they become violent is alarming. As stated above, having a lock out will just make people feel they need to get drunk faster before they get kicked out of the venue. Removing the lock down could be beneficial as people might drink a bit less to be able to stay awake all night and would not feel pressed to drink faster before they have to go. The idea of having 10,000 (one eight of the 80,000 people that are on an average night in the Valley) drunk people released at the exact same time in a place like the Valley is frightening.