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The Hon. Robert Borsak MLC

Parliament of New South Wales

Legislative Council

Shooters and Fishers Party

MEDI RELE SE

15 February 2016

For Immediate Release

Baird Makes NSW Number 1 Again: t Locking Out Business

NSW Shooters and Fishers Party MLC Robert Borsak called-on Premier Mike Baird to find

a common sense solution to Sydney's lock-out laws rather than locking-out business due to

a poorly-considered solution to alcohol fuelled violence.

Again we have a prime example

of

a thought-bubble with the best

of

intentions putting

another strain on NSW business, Mr Borsak said.

Unfortunately this is how NSW has been run for decades: knee-jerk responses aimed at

making the Government

of

the day look tough and smart, with no thought

of

the wider

consequences.

We've seen with both Labor and Liberal Governments passing ineffective laws to look

'tough on crime' that are either seldom used or quickly repealed because their impact

wasn't fully considered.

One example from last year the Government's Crimes Sentencing Procedure)

Amendment Firearms Offences) ct 2015: in a nutshell, it increased the standard non

parole periods for firearms offences that have never ever been prosecuted because being

tough on gun crime was an 'election commitment'. Yet, my calls for mandatory sentencing

on crimes committed using firearms have fallen on deaf ears.

The Liberal Government has repeatedly declared NSW 'open for business', but the long list

of restaurants, bars and night clubs that have closed in Kings Cross and the Sydney CBD

as a result

of

the laws directly, or declining foot traffic from them, shows that they have just

locked them out.

Mr Borsak also said that his concerns about this legislation that he raised

in

Parliament

in

when the lock-out laws were originally debated have now come to fruition.

In

2014 he said:

I hope that the bill before the House today and the bill to be introduced when Parliament resumes

next month are not kneejerk reactions to media campaigns, such as occurred with the infamous

ammo bill. What a joke that was. The bill must provide for the imposition of adequate sentences on

people who recklessly or intentionally destroy other people's lives. At the same time, the bill must

recognise that New South Wales does not want to become a nanny State and Parliament should not

legislate to destroy legitimate business operations.

Source:

Hansard,

Crimes and Other Legislation Amendment (Assault and Intoxication) Bill 2014,

30/01/2014

Parl iament House

Phone: 02 9230 2850 Fax: 02 9230 2613

Macquarie St SYDNEY NSW 2000

email: robert.borsak@parliament.nsw.gov.au

7/25/2019 Baird Makes NSW Number 1 Again: At Locking-Out Business

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Mr Borsak called

for

a common sense solution to the alcohol-fuelled assaults issue.

Yes, we need a solution to alcohol-fuelled violence. People should be safe when enjoying

themselves on a night out but rather than stopping people from going out in the first place

we need a multi-faceted solution.

The underlying culture of those who think it's 'cool' o r 'tough' to knock somebody out and

possibly kill them on a night out needs to be addressed.

Licensed premises need to be more accountable for their responsible service

of

alcohol

duties, and appropriate public transport late at night needs to be available to get people out

of

the city and safely home when venues are closing.

The list goes on, but what it comes down to is that there's no one-size-fits-all approach to

this issue. Common sense dictated that we need to balance the need to keep people safe

with allowing them to enjoy what

our

great city has to offer.

If Mike Baird fails to improve this situation, people might as well go to Melbourne to enjoy

themselves, rather than our great city of Sydney.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Robert Borsak MLC 02 9230 2573