According to recent data received by the Sydney Morning Herald, 16 licensed venues inside the Sydney lockout zone have been granted exemptions from the state’s devastating lockout laws since September last year.
However, there’s a catch and it’s a doozie. Actually, you might want to sit down for this one. The exempt venues can admit patrons after 1.30am, however no alcohol can be served after lockout time and only two drinks can be served between 1 and 1.30am.
Oh, and the conditions of the exemption also specify that “no entertainment is to be provided during the lockout period (other than gaming [poker machines] or background entertainment)”. Yep, you can only play the pokies.
14 venues in the CBD entertainment precinct have been deemed exempt, including The Albion Place Hotel on George St, V Bar in World Square, Triple 8 Bar in Haymarket, The Criterion Hotel in Pitt Street, and Scruffy Murphy’s on Goulburn Street.
Over in Kings Cross, which has been one of the areas most affected by the lockout laws, with venues and pubs regularly shutting down in the once bustling street, the Bourbon and the Vegas Hotel have been exempted.
According to the Liquor Act, an exemption can be granted but only with conditions that “will be more effective in reducing the risk of alcohol-related violence in or about the declared premises concerned”.
We’re guessing getting your constituents hooked on an often debilitating habit that could ruin them financially and psychologically counts as “reducing the risk of alcohol-related violence”. NSW is set to review the lockout laws in February.
