2am Lockout
The 2am lockout represents to me the same stupidity that surrounded the 3am lock out and what will certainly follow the 1am lockout. As responsible night culture dwellers we need to stand together and fight this legislation, as Melbournites did, in order to maintain some control over what government can impose on us.
The idea surrounding the 3am lock out was that it would reduce violence and street drunkards, it is an absolute failure, as any valley goer knows on no level whatsoever has the 3am lock out reduced violence or bad behavior. I am sure somewhere, some politician has a nice set of stats to prove me wrong, but I have now lived in Fortitude Valley for 6 years, and things are only getting worse. That’s the reality of the situation, even if there are now more police more guards, and more restrictions on what time you can start getting drunk elsewhere.
This is the failure of the whole concept, the 3am lockout doesn’t prevent people from drinking till the wee hours of the morning, it only prevents them from moving to another bar.
Having worked the door for troubadour for nearly 3 years, I’ve seen what a night out in the valley can do to a person. People presenting their credit cards as I.D.’s, not being able to answer “where else have you been tonight?”, and often a very long discussion involving abstract concepts in order to try and prove sobriety.
As much as I love to hit the turps as the much as the next person, it seems to a lot of people, the concept of a good time has gone over their heads. It seems somehow there is a niche group of Australians who find vomiting and bashing a stranger a good night out. The cure for this Niche group (many of whom descend on the valley at 11pm) isn’t locking them out on the streets, or encouraging them to stay in the bar after 2am. Its what all bars are supposed to do in the first place. Its what we’ve done at the troubadour for 6 years.
Responsible service of Alcohol, for those of you not in the industry, mean everyone who works in a bar needs to do a short course on how to serve alcohol responsibly. This course is taught to every body who serves booze, but its token as it’s not enforced. Bars all over Brisbane serve Alcohol till the person is paralyzed, and then the guards throw the barely conscious soul, out into the street. If bars and clubs actually took proper care of the clientele many of the problems in the valley would dissolve.
Of course there is also a huge problem with Australian drinking culture, but one step at a time.
Maybe within time, we too can drink beer on the train home from work, or walk from one bar to another beer in hand as they do in Berlin, (where I saw no drunken violence at all), but In my opinion the process is about education, and care, not brute strength and restrictions. I mean the moronic idiots in government actually think adding more violence and restrictions to a drunken orgy will improve the situation. These are the people who run the state!
