How anyone could view the situation surrounding Sydney’s lockout laws as a success is beyond us, but apparently the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons has renewed calls for the NT government to enact the controversial legislation.
“Ultimately it is surgeons and other medical professionals who see first-hand the extent of the problem,” the college’s trauma committee chair John Crozier told NT News. “In an election year I encourage both the Government and the opposition to consult the evidence base.
“It is increasingly showing that earlier closing times consistently reduce assaults and emergency department attendances, and are a crucial part of managing alcohol-related violence,” Crozier added.
“Australian and international research demonstrates that for every additional hour of trading after midnight, there is a 16-20 per cent increase in assaults. Conversely, for every hour of reduced trading there is a 20 percent reduction in assaults.”
If the NT government did indeed decide to introduce lockout laws, it would make them just the latest in a string of cities to enact the divisive laws, which are currently active in Sydney and were recently passed in Queensland.
However, the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons has faced opposition in their quest for earlier lockout and last drinks times. The NT branch of the Australian Hotels Association says a more nuanced approach is required in the state.
AHA Chief Executive Des Crowe told the NT News a “staggered” approach had been effective in Darwin. The NT capital has a 3am lockout in place for the four venues allowed to trade past 2am and a closing time of 4am.
“We have a lockout in use in Darwin and we’re not strictly opposed to that,” he said. However, Crowe suggested that areas of the Northern Territory and a nightlife hub like Sydney’s Kings Cross are not comparable.
“We wouldn’t think the environment in Alice Springs would demand any form of lockout,” he said, calling the situation in the Northern Territory a “completely different scenario” to that of the Cross.
