ANTI-LOCKOUTS RALLY EXPECTED TO ATTRACT THOUSANDS IN SYDNEY
Australians to take to the streets in protest of Government enforced curfews this Sunday
An enormous protest is set to take place in Sydney this Sunday, in response to the New South Wales Government’s controversial lockout laws.
The rally is being organised by local lobby group Keep Sydney Open, who have drafted in a slew of well-known music identities to speak and perform before and after the march — Isabella Manfredi of The Preatures and Dave Faulkner of the Hoodoo Gurus are both set to talk, whilst Art vs Science and Royal Headache will perform.
The Keep Sydney Open rally has currently attracted over 8000 attendees on Facebook and will convene in Sydney's Belmore Park from 12.30pm this Sunday 21st February.
"Meeting at Belmore Park in Central, the rally will then make its way into the CBD just after 1pm, stopping by soon-to-close venue Bar Century to conduct a mock funeral for all the closed venues, small businesses and jobs lost since the lockouts," organisers say.
The brains behind Keep Sydney Open have also come up with a list of alternative measures to the current lockout laws that are set to come under Government review later this year.
Read them in full below:
- the removal of the 1:30am lockout
- 3am cease of service exemptions for licensed premises that are predominantly live music venues
- an end to the new licence freeze for predominantly live music venues and small bars
- the lifting of restrictions on retail hours late-night public transport, like in Melbourne
- the introduction of a Night Mayor, like in Amsterdam and Berlin
- an invitation from government to discuss next steps in partnership with those whose livelihoods depend on the music and cultural industries thriving in Sydney
- police to work with, not against, the responsible venues who provide safe nights out in a global city
The NSW lockout laws, that have devastated local nightlife and clubbing culture since being introduced in February 2014, have been notoriously unpopular with locals, with outspoken Australian DJ Alison Wonderland claiming that Sydney had become a “laughing stock internationally” in a recent social media rant.
Other Australian DJs and producers have also taken to Facebook to express their anti-lockout views, with DJ duo act Flight Facilities penning a now viral letter on the laws, and ex-Triple J DJ Nina Las Vegas writing that the new lockout laws have made her feel less safe walking home, thanks to inner-city curfews that have turned the Kings Cross area into a ghost town.
[Via Huffington Post]
