The NSW Government has reviewed and taken on board the lockout law changes recommended by Judge Ian Callinan back in September, and will trial the relaxed laws across Kings Cross and Sydney CBD for two years.
update: Keep Sydney Open Slams Lockout Law Changes: "We Demand Better"
As Fairfax reports, the 1.30am lockout will be pushed to 2am, while the 3am last drinks rule will be pushed to 3.30am. Also, the 10pm ban on home takeaway alcohol sales will be pushed to 11pm and home delivery to midnight.
Judge Callinan found that takeaway sales of alcohol "whether before or after 10pm, makes little or no contribution to violence and anti-social behaviour in the Precincts, even less so when it is home delivered".
Back in October, Premier Mike Baird agreed to make the half-hour changes to the laws, however Keep Sydney Open's Tyson Koh said it "will do little to help small businesses, the music scene or reinvigorate our dying inner-city precincts".
Koh holds steady on that stance today, telling theMusic.com.au exclusively, "Thirty minutes is not enough to help out struggling businesses, to bring back the jobs lost in the night time economy, it's not enough to restore confidence in our live music scene and it's certainly not enough to get this issue off the Premier's back."
Keep Sydney Open have staged multiple rallies to bring awareness to the issue, as well as released new research to show that Sydney's assaults had already been on the decline before the lockout laws were introduced. A number of prominent musicians including Flume, Flight Facilities and Lorde backed the movement by unveiling plaques outside Sydney venues that had closed down.
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