The Night Time Industries Association has condemned police raids on LGBTQIA+ venues along Oxford Street in June and September, including Arq, Palms, The Beresford and Kinselas.
NTIA Vice-Chair James Thorpe called it extraordinary that the latest raids happened just 24 hours after Sydney MP Alex Greenwich convened a roundtable on night time culture with the Minister for the Night Time Economy.
The association is asking the NSW Government to adopt an engagement-first licensing model and to appoint a dedicated Nightlife Assistant Commissioner within NSW Police.
Thorpe said “These are legitimate businesses employing thousands of people and providing an important part of Sydney’s cultural and social infrastructure.”
The ALMBC supports this call, with EGM Ant McKenna noting an over-the-top police and sniffer dog presence at last weekend’s Yours & Owls Festival.
The NSW government leadership and every department has been working in unison to revive live music and the economic and cultural benefits of live music and night-time economy. However heavy-handed tactics by police, over-use of police, sniffer-dogs and the such, seems to be unnecessarily undermining an otherwise successful all-of-government approach.
