Streets safer since alcohol crackdown

#958 for broadcast on 2CH Sydney, 7 Sep 2014.

A NSW Parliamentary Inquiry heard on Wednesday that there is growing evidence the Baird Government’s crackdown on alcohol-related violence is bearing fruit.

It appears lock-out laws in force in the CBD and Kings Cross since February 24 have reduced night-time street crowds, and there was a significant reduction in alcohol-related presentations at St Vincent’s Hospital and Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.

Clubs and hotels argued the laws would shift drunken violence to other suburbs, but this has not been observed.

Ralph Kelly, the father of Thomas Kelly whose violent death prompted the new laws, addressed the inquiry, saying he sympathised with businesses that were doing it tough but said it was more important to reduce violence.

“I understand that shopkeepers and nightclubs are going through pain, but we cannot let this carnage continue,” he said.

The NSW Council of Churches has consistently called for tougher laws to curb alcohol-related violence.

I’m Rod Benson for the NSW Council of Churches.