As you may have noticed for a long time the government has been talking about lockouts and as you may have also already noticed they exist on Sundays after festivals (12am lockout, shut by 1am). When you hear about cities like Berlin, where parties can continue 24 hours, it makes you wonder what’s up with Perth. With lots of ‘northbridge is the evil of our society’ propaganda, I thought I might find out about what Simon Barwood from the Nightclub Association of WA thinks of the new proposal. Full interview is after the jump…
Is the lockout going to work? And why?
If you mean the 3.30am lockout proposed for nightclubs and if by ‘work’ you mean it will significantly reduce anti-social behaviour and violence in Northbridge then no I don’t believe it will work. Police data shows that only 20% of problems in Northbridge happen after 3am, that means 80% happen before 3am. Any strategy that is targeted after 3am (such as the proposed lockout for nightclubs) misses the mark in that it ignores the vast majority of the problems. Even if it is 100% effective it can only lead to a 20% improvement for Northbridge. In any case I don’t believe Nightclub patrons are significantly contributing to problems after 3.30am in Northbridge. Problems at this time are caused by drunks on the street who are being refused entry to nightclubs anyway. All a lockout will do is penalise Nightclub patrons who aren’t doing anything wrong
Do you feel the media/police/government has been fairly representation what happens in Northbridge, or any Perth night-spot?
The media portrays Northbridge as a dangerous place which is an unfair representation, it’s actually a very safe place with Police on every street corner and responsibly run venues. Police know what happens in Northbridge and where the problems are coming from and have reported this information to government. Government has chosen to ignore the evidence presented by Police and have chosen to target Nightclubs in isolation instead. The great irony is Nightclubs are probably the safest place for patrons to be with professional security, CCTV, ID scanning and metal detectors already in place.
Is there a problem with these spots? And if there is, what is it?
There are problems with people bringing weapons and drugs into nightlife precincts, the recent new Police powers targeting the minority of people doing this should see an improvement that will mean a safer Northbridge. However by far the most widespread problems in Northbridge are alcohol related and again Police know where the problems are coming from and have reported this information to government. Government has chosen to ignore the evidence presented by Police and have chgosen target Nightclubs in isolation instead.
If the laws go through what will happen to nightclubs?
They will have to close earlier and patrons will be subjected to a lockout.
What happens to the general nightclub punters? Especially the ones who aren’t inebriated?
They won’t be able to enter a nightclub or come and go as they please after 3.30am and will have to wait an hour or more after nightclubs close for the first train in the morning.
Is there a better solution?
ID scanning has already been introduced in many Nightclubs and more will adopt this technology as well. This has been proven to work in other precincts like Geelong. Northbridge should be monitored while this takes place and before any further remedial action is taken.
As general club goers, and obvious opposers of the lockouts (well Perthquake is), what can we do to help?
Write to our member of parliament or to the media. (I’ll also have a link to a survey I’m hoping you will invite your ‘perthquakians’ to participate in. I hope to have that for you tomorrow.)
Thanks for the interview Simon. I really hope the government listens to all the people who this is going to effect and think clearly before pushing for an inadequate solution.
I hope so too, the problem is people making the decisions are in their 50s and 60s and haven’t been to a nightclub in decades
Barnett’s knee jerk reaction only appeals to a certain demographic, from which his short sightedness can’t see beyond. At a time when Perth was well on it’s way to removing its ‘boring’ tag, one megalomaniac ultra conservative has to ruin it for the majority.
Common sense has to prevail in relation to social problems associated with alcohol. The Police recommendations were right on the money.
The government’s proposal however, essentially synchronises the closure of all nightclubs. Which will create a number of problems most notably transport congestion.
Closing venues earlier/refusing patrons certain drinks does not equate to individuals becoming less intoxicated. Where there’s a will there’s a way. A safer environment and better education are more effective tools than any curfew will ever be.
I’m most annoyed at the drink restrictions after 1am. No jugs, pints or shots after 1am.
Also one small mistake was in your article…
“Police data shows that only 20% of problems in Northbridge happen after 6am, that means 80% happen before 3am”
I think that should read 20% happen after 3am, not 6am.
Yes it is meant to say that. Right I’ll fix it up now!
Yeah the drink restrictions seems silly to me, the whole thing seems silly. Won’t people just get drunk earlier now? And the rest of the problems still remain?
I’m with Joey Joe Joe, education is the key. Some people will always get messed up no matter what, but you can teach people the pros and cons of binge drinking, or even fighting (of which I don’t think there are any pros) and then they have the choice to make good or bad decisions. Blanket rules for everyone NEVER work, because no problem is that simple.