Queensland Locked Out
Reclaim Your Nightlife – Shut Down the Lock Down
Posts tagged Anna Bligh
Article: Party people to picket over 2am lockout
Mar 17th
So here’s an article about the issue on the Brisbane Times. Direct Link Here. Please go into the Article on the Brisbane Times website and share your thoughts.
Critics of proposed changes to late-night trading hours in Brisbane’s entertainment precinct plan to picket Parliament House again should an inquiry into alcohol-related violence recommend shutting down pubs and clubs before 5am.
Speculation the state government will wind back late-night trading in Fortitude Valley and Brisbane’s CBD mounted today, as the Law, Safety and Justice Committee prepares to table its final report tomorrow.
In its submission to the inquiry in October, the Queensland Police Union called for the Valley entertainment district and parts of the CBD to be closed at 2am in a bid to curb the number of violent late-night street bashings.
Last week, 400 people marched along Alice Street in protest against the proposed blanket shut down as part of the “Reclaim the Nightclife” campaign.
Protest organiser Zach Salar said opposition would “increase tenfold” should the inquiry recommend shutting down the Valley.
“The state government can expect to hear from us again,” Mr Salar said.
“Many, many people are going to be pissed off. I am prepared to organise buses from the Gold Coast to have a centralised, massive protest.”
Mr Salar, 25, said a mass exodus of people from the Valley entertainment precinct come closing time would only compound violence on the streets, rather than reduce it.
“You will have thousands and thousands of people from vastly different backgrounds pouring onto the streets at one time. It’s a recipe for a violent disaster.”
He also said revellers would drink to compensate for reduced trading hours, leading to a surge in booze-fuelled violence.
Mr Salar cited the London experience where the Applied Criminology Centre reportedly found that extending late-night trading hours reduced alcohol-related violence in and around pubs and clubs.
“The rationale behind (extending trading hours) was that by removing fixed and artificially early closing times, the numbers of people exiting licensed premises would be dispersed over a long time period.
“The study found that this reduced binge drinking, violent behaviour, damage to property and disorder.
“Our ministers keep pointing to overseas experiences. How can they ignore this?”
He also pointed to the experience in Newcastle saying the winding back of trading hours would force small businesses and venues to shut up shop and drive young people interstate or overseas, “out of the nanny state”.
In Newcastle restrictions imposed on 14 hotels in 2008, including 1am lock outs, earlier closing times and a ban on the sale of shots after 10pm, saw assaults drop by almost a third within the year.
“But authorities have failed to mention is that 15 venues in Newcastle had to close because they went out of business. And hordes of young people moved out of Newcastle to Sydney and Melbourne,” he said.
“A lockout as proposed would be devastating to Queensland’s economy through the loss of jobs and small business and set Queensland’s urban cultural development back 15 years.”
Queensland Police Union president Ian Leavers has maintained that publicans and hoteliers, who opposed the push to reduce trading hours, have a responsibility to ensure the safety of patrons.
“How can you continue to serve young Queenslanders alcohol and then wipe your hands clean of any responsibility for violence on our doorstep?” he said.
“It’s time to put the interests of the wider community before the licensees desire to fill their tills for the maximum number of hours.”
Anti-alcoholic violence police team disbanded ahead of report
Mar 8th
It seems like the State Government doesn’t even care about our safety. Kudos Anna Bligh! Way to tackle the problem; maybe if you reduce the amount of police in our streets then that will resolve the problem… sigh
All we ask for is more funding to be provided to our police so they can tackle the issues of alcohol fuelled violence and for harsher penalties against the offenders.
Thanks to the Courier Mail for reporting this. Link to actual article here:
A CRACK police unit targeting booze-fuelled violence has been disbanded just days before the Government is handed a crucial report on how to tackle the problem.
The flying squad, set up two years ago to target violent hotspots in some of the busiest entertainment precincts in the state, has been quietly grounded because of a lack of resources.
The district police chief yesterday confirmed the team of six operating out of the City and Valley would return to general duties and not be replaced, as part of a review into all specialist units.
A long-awaited report from the committee undertaking a parliamentary inquiry into alcohol-related violence will table its findings in State Parliament this week.
Premier Anna Bligh announced the inquiry in July after The Courier-Mail exposed the growing problem of drunken violence and injury at Queensland’s popular nightspots. The inquiry examined several strategies, including reduced trading hours, transport concepts and more resources.
Metropolitan North Assistant Commissioner Ross Barnett said the disbanding of the flying squad was about better deployment of resources. “We’re going to see how all these new practices work and continue to review it and amend it if we need to,” he said.
The move comes as the State Government rules out funding another Operation Merit, which targeted trouble by doubling officer numbers in the City and Valley club areas.
“Merit was a one-off and we’ve got to run our operations based on our approved strength, and the strength we have in the City and the Valley is a finite number,” Mr Barnett said.
“No one’s ever going to knock back more staff – that’s a luxury we don’t always get, but unless and until that happens, our challenge is to make what we’ve got as efficient and effective as we can.”
Operation Merit provided for 16,000 extra hours of police patrolling in December and January, which led to 589 arrests and 1415 charges.
Brisbane City Licensees Association president Mark Lassman said the more support they could get, the better.
“We can’t really enforce the law – so if someone’s becoming a problem and they’re asked to leave, this is where these guys were experts with dealing with that sort of stuff,” Mr Lassman said.
Police Minister Neil Roberts denied police were under-resourced and said they would continue conducting targeted blitzes in entertainment precincts.
Opposition justice spokesman Lawrence Springborg said that without the resources, any strategies from this week’s inquiry findings would be “window dressing”.
PRESS RELEASE: An Open Letter to the Members of Parliament
Mar 2nd
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AN OPEN LETTER TO MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT
2nd of March 2010
Dear Members of Parliament,
I would like to bring to your attention a rally I am organising against reduced trading hours for licensed venues across Queensland. The rally is to voice our disappointment and protest about such a proposal and to also highlight the Bligh Government’s insistence to continually treat adults as children and punish the majority because of the actions of a very small minority.
This is the real scenario; reduced trading hours will kill off the music scene in Queensland and the Valley, which has given life to every major band from the Bee Gees to Powderfinger.
Our protest is not without acknowledgement that there is a problem with alcohol-related violence. It would be a head in the sand attitude to think that no action needs to be taken to address the alcohol-related violence trend in society and Brisbane alike; however, I do not believe the solution is reducing trading hours.
Taking the point that reducing trading hours will reduce incidents, why not have curfews on driving on the roads between 1am and 5am when single vehicle accidents regularly occur because people fall asleep. The government obviously doesn’t see this as a viable solution so it tackles that problem in a different manner through effective campaigns and, rightly so, punishes people who drink and drive with suspensions and harsh fines to get the message across.
It would be far more effective to embark on this type of campaign of advertising and heavier penalties to tackle this issue in society – not just the Valley– than reducing trading hours. Tackling the cause and not the symptom is the answer. On top of that, the 3am lockout has been acknowledged by licensees, Chaplain Watch and the Taxi Association as causing more incidents than it is worth.
If hours were reduced and venues are forced to close at 2am or 3am; the problems associated with the lockout could easily exacerbate with 30,000 people shunted on to the streets at closing time. It would clog public transport and the taxi system; violence may actually rise unless of course there are significantly more police on the grounds to handle such a mammoth groundswell of people in the streets.
There is also the economic impact of reduced trading hours and in particular jobs, which many students rely on to get through their Tertiary Education, being lost as well as numerous other people who will lose hours.
This is why on March 11th (from 4pm), I am organising a major rally of students, music lovers, residents and people who care about the above issues and don’t want to see the demise of the culture in Brisbane, to gather outside Parliament. We are encouraging them to bring their parents and families to the protest to show that it’s not just the youth that care about this issue, its all Queenslanders.
There is more at stake than just trading hours. There are civil liberties at stake and the absence of a Government wanting to punish offenders and deal with the problem head on through education, tougher penalties and ad campaigns. That’s an issue for parents as well as their children.
It’s why I also extend an invitation for you to stand beside us or at least address the rally on your views. I’m also asking for your support to sponsor an official parliamentary petition which we will distribute across to every contact we have.
Please, do not destroy the culture of our great State.
Warm Regards
Zach Salar
M: 0412 086 614
E: zachsalar@gmail.com
http://queenslandlockedout.com
Bligh keen to see if glass ban works in all licensed venues
Nov 26th
Any changes in licensing times, even a 3am shutdown will be dangerous for our community. Can you imagine everyone being let loose into the streets at the same time just as the night is being started. Here’s an article that was published in the Courier Mail today. Direct Link to article here
PREMIER Anna Bligh has directed a committee investigating alcohol-fuelled violence to explore whether all Queensland licensed venues can eventually be glass-free.
In a letter to the Law, Safety and Justice Committee dated October 6, Ms Bligh requested consideration be given to “the feasibility and workability of transitioning, over time, to the complete phasing out of regular glass in licensed venues”.
She said it would need to be in consultation with industry and the community.
Liquor Licensing Minister Peter Lawlor this month also wrote to the committee about the prospect of changing closing times from 5am to 3am.
“During the extensive industry and community consultation undertaken as part of that review, the Queensland Hotels Association, the peak industry body … indicated its members generally would be agreeable to a uniform 3am closing time,” he said. “I believe the association’s proposal merits fresh consideration by the committee.”
The State Government announced the parliamentary inquiry and a glass ban at “high risk” venues in July following the launch of The Courier-Mail’s Punch Drunk series on alcohol-fuelled violence.
However, it has had difficulty enforcing it after 13 of the 74 licensees issued with show-cause notices were given more time to fight the ruling by the Supreme Court.
The ban is now due to apply in February instead of December.
The Law, Safety and Justice Committee handed down its interim report yesterday, but the only recommendation was to have a separate inquiry into the impact of drugs on society. “The issue of the extent to which the use of illicit drugs contributes to the levels of public violence has been raised on a number of occasions,” chairwoman Barbara Stone said.
Ms Bligh said the Government would consider a separate inquiry into illegal drugs, but not before the current inquiry was completed.
“I know that there is growing public concern about alcohol-fuelled violence, and I accept the views from the committee that some of the violence we see on our streets … is fuelled by drugs,” she said.
Other proposals under consideration include networked ID scanners across key entertainment precincts, better education for youth and more funding for frontline workers.
The Queensland Police Union, which is leading the charge for earlier closing times, criticised the committee for not recommending any changes in the lead-up to Christmas, saying “Arctic icebergs move faster”.
The committee is due to make its final report in March.