Amsterdam’s Night Mayor Says Sydney’s Current “Crisis” Could Help “Unify” Its Nightlife

Mirik Milan, the Night Mayor of Amsterdam, has offered up some advice on how Sydney might be able to un-f*ck its nightlife and ailing global image, and it involves using the current “crisis” to bring communities together.

Milan will touch down on our shores this November to deliver a keynote speech at the fifth annual Electronic Music Conference, and he’s preempted the sure-to-be-explosive talk by dropping a few strategic truth bombs in the lead-up.

Speaking with Junkee Media, Milan says Sydney’s current situation with the lockout laws — which have caused the city to haemorrhage countless businesses and jobs — could actually help everyone unite to create change for the better.

“You always need a crisis to unify the nightlife scene,” he says. “You need to unite the stubborn entrepreneurs who know what’s best for their venue. The scene needs to speak out with one voice and needs to come together and make a stand, because governments and municipalities speak to associations and bigger organisations. They often don’t take the opinion of one venue seriously, because they always fight back by saying ‘okay, but that’s in your own commercial interest’. That’s what I think is important.”

The Night Mayor has also unequivocally trashed the Liberal Government’s lockout laws as a “solution” to the perceived problem of alcohol-fuelled violence.

“Legislation will not change society,” he tells Junkee Media. “How subcultures operate [and] the way we look at problems will change society.”

And one of the key measures that he reckons will help address the problems currently plaguing Sydney is issuing venues with 24-hour operating licenses.

“What happens everywhere in the world is that venues all close at the same time, so everyone spills out into the streets all at the same time,” he explains. “That causes a lot of noise for the neighbours and people living there. If you have a venue with a thousand people inside and they all leave between four and five in the morning, then you have, like, a thousand people in front of your venue.

He also reckons the NSW Government should have an economic impact study done to get the full measure of the lockouts’ catastrophic impact on Sydney’s nightlife and the after-dark economy.

Needless to say, we look forward to seeing the full can of fact-based whoop-ass that Amsterdam’s Night Mayor will open up when he comes to speak at the EMC this November.

Meanwhile, anti-lockouts movement Keep Sydney Open has just announced an “urgent” rally for Sunday, 9th October, following their last one which drew around 15,000 punters, holding an array of ingenious signs.

Gallery: The Funniest Anti-Lockout Banners From The ‘Keep Sydney Open’ Rally