Most Queenslanders support lockout laws
A new survey has found that a majority of Queenslanders are in favour of closing nightclubs earlier to reduce alcohol-related violence.
That said, the idea has less support in Queensland than in other states.
The survey, conducted by Fairfax Media as part of the Political Persona Project, found that 53.5 per cent of Queenslanders either agreed (32.9 per cent) or strongly agreed (20.6 per cent) with the idea of closing nightclubs earlier to reduce alcohol-related violence.
However, the survey also found that 32.2 per cent of Queenslanders were not in favour of closing nightclubs earlier to tackle alcohol-related violence.
That’s more than the 27.8 per cent saying that across Australia.
The survey comes at a time when Queensland parliament is debating the Liquor Act and Other Legislation Amendment Bill to scrap the 1am lockout pubs and clubs and halve the number of one-off late night trading permits.
Under the existing rules, venues in Safe Night Precincts, such as Fortitude Valley, still need to stop service of alcohol at 3am. Venues outside the precinct have to stop serving drinks at 2am.
ID scanners are mandatory for venues trading past midnight from July.
Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath said stopping drinks at 2am and 3am was the most effective tool for reducing alcohol-fuelled violence and that an interim report into the measures rolled out so far showed enforcing the lockout would have little effect on alcohol-fuelled violence trends in Queensland.
"After careful consideration... the government has decided not to implement the 1am lockout provisions. We want to allow the 3am trading laws an opportunity to work," Ms D’Ath told the Brisbane Times.
Opposition Industrial Relations spokesman Jarrod Bleijie said the LNP had opposed the lockout laws when they were included in Labor's previous bill.
"It has taken them two years to realise we were right and they were wrong," Mr Bleijie told the Brisbane Times.
"On the eleventh hour they then changed the lockouts and then guess what they don't apply in the state anymore."
by Leon Gettler, March 2nd 2017
