A new law passed through the Australian Parliament earlier this week that has been met with a great deal of controversy. Though many members of Parliament disagreed with the State Government’s controversial law, it still managed to pass. According to the new law, the clubs and pubs in Queensland will have to close much earlier now. In general, the places serving liquor in Queensland will have their last call at 2:00 AM, while the lucky few in the party precincts do not have to have their last call until 3:00 AM.
This law is being enacted in an effort to stop or lessen the alcohol-driven violence that regularly occurs late night in Queensland. According to Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, “The evidence is clear: reduced trading hours leads to reduced violence, and that’s what this bill delivers.” Labor Minister Dr Anthony Lynham also approves of the changes, and he has been pushing for a similar sort of law for years. He believes that the new law will reduce by one third the number of people who end up in the emergency department on the weekend.
The bill has gained support from the Queensland Police Union. The police are used to dealing with drunken assaults and people who drive under the influence, so they look forward to a reduced amount of time during which people can buy the alcohol that is influencing these crimes. The president of the union says that “we’re going to see less victims, less offenders, [and avoid] the human misery and telling loved ones what’s happened to [a] family member.”
Others are less enthusiastic about the new changes to the timeline of Queensland nightlife. Shadow attorney-general Ian Walker says that the policy will not be beneficial, and he believes the emotional pleas of the bill’s supporters are not founded in logic. Much of the LNP opposes the new laws, and they feel that their opponents are being sanctimonious while passing laws that will not even guarantee safety for late night drinkers. They point out that the crimes may just shift to an earlier time of the evening, when more people will be out and about, instead of happening in the later hours. Opposition to the law so high that crossbench MPs had to negotiate a compromise that involved more rural jobs in return for supporting the law.
Another group who is opposing the new law are the many business owners within the Queensland area. The nightclub industry predicts that at least 6,000 jobs will be lost once the new lockout laws go into effect. Nick Braban of Our Nightlife Queensland says, “These are small businesses that struggle to pay the rent week to week. They’re not enormous profit-making machines.” For businesses who are operating on such thin margins, the loss of late night business may force these clubs and pubs to go out of business entirely.