Oz Nightclubs Challenge Lockout Plans

About 300 Melbourne nightclub owners and promoters recently met to work out how to battle the state government’s plan to bring in a trial 2 a.m. lockout.

The lockout, to start June 3, is to curtail drunken violence outside clubs.

The group decided to set up an association of bar owners and licensees to fund a challenge in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

However, there was a split regarding how to achieve their goals. Some want a meeting with the government to explain that the idea would cause chaos and that the $35 million used on the trial could be better used elsewhere to curb violence.

Others want to take revenge by abandoning policies like using ID scanners at the door.

Meanwhile, a politician suggested a 3 a.m. lockout for New South Wales. The NSW government is getting tough on the 23 most violence-prone clubs in the state, as described in a recently issued report, and asking them to explain why they should not lose their licenses.