A new poll is suggesting that three quarters of young people support the NSW lockout laws which are currently under review.
According to a Fairfax and ReachTEL poll which surveyed 16,000 voters, nearly 60 per cent are in favour of the government extending the 1.30am lockout and 3am last drinks laws to the rest of the state.
It further states that of the younger voters surveyed, only one quarter are opposed to doing so. This is despite protests in Sydney which have drawn crowds of up to 10,000 people.
The organisers of one of the largest protests Keep Sydney Open have responded to the new poll with a simple tweet saying, “Heard a poll came out showing younger people are most in favour of lockouts. We’ll let the public judge whether that’s legit or not.”
Tyson Koh, one of the founders of Keep Sydney Open, further spoke to Fairfax saying, “This is not an issue that should be decided by winning or losing a poll.”
It comes just as further new research has suggested that the impact of lockout laws have been “vastly overstated”.
Research conducted by the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education found that the decline in foot traffic in lockout areas was much less than the suggested 80 per cent and was closer to 19 per cent. It also reported a 75 per cent reduction in harm being caused by late night drinking.
This is a finding disputed by Koh who told ABC, “The whole world is talking about how Sydney feels dead at night.”
“And I would invite anyone who challenges this depiction to just walk around the streets, walk around Kings Cross and Oxford Street and Darlinghurst and see the amount of police signs that are up in the shops.”
The government is expected to receive the findings of the lockout law review this week.
Heard a poll came out showing younger people are most in favour of lockouts. We'll let the public judge whether that's legit or not ?
— Keep Sydney Open (@KeepSydneyOpen) August 29, 2016
