Greens Committed to Vibrant and Violence-Free Sydney

Recognising the threat to Sydney’s vibrant night-life from the Baird Liberal Government, the NSW Greens have established a new Night-time Culture and Economy portfolio. This has been announced today in line with the release of the Callinan Review report.

Member for Newtown, Jenny Leong MP, will take carriage of the new portfolio and continue to work closely with key stakeholders to keep Sydney safe and open.

Jenny Leong MP says:

“We will be reviewing the Callinan report closely to see whether the views of the 15,000 people who joined the Keep Sydney Open rally and the thousands of others who expressed their concerns to #CasinoMike about the unfairness of the lockout laws have been heard.

“It’s essential that the things that are harder to measure, around the vibe of our city and the choices people have on their nights out, have also been considered. It’ll be interesting to see how the report has measured the good times that haven’t happened.

“From first glance the report from the Callinan Review suggests that a relaxing of the lockouts and last drinks by half an hour could be trialled, in some venues. This begs the question – what other measures that can keep our streets safe but our venues open could be trialled?

“The Greens voted against the laws that implemented the Sydney lockouts when they were introduced because they were then and they still are now a collective punishment.

“We look forward to working with Sydney’s musos, creatives, shift-workers, all-night party-goers, businesses and the community, to ensure that our city at night is vibrant and violence-free.