Call for shorter Newcastle hotel hours
NEWCASTLE’S alcohol-fuelled violence should be further scrutinised to identify how late-night assaults can be reduced beyond already impressive results, Newcastle Drug Action Team chairman Tony Brown says.
And even earlier hotel trading hours should not be off the table, he said, following the release of new research yesterday that showed trading restrictions imposed on city hotels in 2008 had kept assaults down over five years.
University of Newcastle research, led by Professor Kypros Kypri, showed the restricted trading hours had reduced late-night assaults in Newcastle by about a third, sustained to March 2013.
But in contrast, assaults in neighbouring Hamilton, where only a lockout was introduced, stayed steady over the same period, suggesting the ‘‘soft option’’ was ineffective.
Mr Brown said the research ‘‘validated’’ the decision of inner-city residents and police to pursue the initial complaint against city hotels over violence levels.
‘‘This is a great opportunity for Newcastle to further demonstrate why we are leading the way in this area.
‘‘We need all stakeholders to come together to look at where the assaults are still occurring, when and what type,’’ he said.
Australian Hotels Association NSW director of policing John Green said the research confirmed ‘‘what our position has always been – lockouts are not an effective measure’’. He said a reduction in the number of people going out in Newcastle would mean fewer incidents.
“In looking at the five-year figure in isolation what isn’t acknowledged is that assaults actually rose again before licensees – in collaboration with police – took the initiative in 2012 of banning problem patrons from all remaining late-trading venues,’’ Mr Green said.
The state government has said it would look at rolling out its new Sydney 3am curfew and 1.30am lockout to other areas if violence levels warranted it.
Professor Kypri said a blanket 3am closure or curfew across the state was not desirable compared to local approaches, as ‘‘for some communities that’s too late’’.
Source: Newcastle Herald - 4 March 2014
