This Simple Clip Perfectly Explains Why The Lockouts Are Worth Protesting

Effortlessly demolishing the arguments put forward by Mike Baird, your aunty, and a selection of confused middle-aged people interviewed on breakfast TV, Keep Sydney Open has just dropped a video with a simple explanation of why the lockouts are a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad idea. Spoiler: it’s not just about our rights to get wasted.

“If you wanted to reduce shoplifting, would you lock up the doors to your shop and hide all the stock in the cellar?” the clip starts (admittedly a little too close to the ‘you wouldn’t steal a car’ anti-piracy video that’s forever burnt into all our brains). “Sure, theft would decrease, but there might be some other rather more serious consequences to your business. That’s what Sydney’s lockout laws are doing to Sydney’s once great entertainment precincts.”

The script for the video was written by SMH journo and occasional Junkee contributor Andrew P. Street, the animation is by Sydney design collective Entropico, the voiceover is from Joyride, and the backing track is courtesy of local electronic act Touch Sensitive. Both musicians are among the many who are outspoken about their opposition to the lockouts, and when sharing the post this morning Joyride added the hashtag #killallboomers.

Considering recent events, I can really seeing it taking off.

Here’s the rest of the text if you’d like to copy and paste it into a particularly frustrating Facebook fight:

Nighttime foot traffic in Kings Cross is down 84 percent according to the City of Sydney’s own numbers. Almost 50 clubs, bars, restaurants and venues have shut down since the lockouts were introduced. Our cultural life is being eroded and our international reputation is on the slide.

The overwhelming majority of Sydneysiders can have a good time without anyone ever getting hurt. Going out to see band, dance in a club, or just have a few drinks with friends shouldn’t be a crime. In fact, that’s what’s made Sydney such a great place to live. Other cities around the world have found solutions that tackle the actual problem — violence — without punishing people who have done nothing wrong, ruining people’s longstanding livelihoods or pushing everyone into a gambling den after midnight. 

Better policing, better public transport, street-side CCTV, education programs, and tougher sentencing are just a few examples. Stopping violence shouldn’t mean stopping everything.

Sydney has a reputation for being one of the greatest cities on Earth. Let’s keep it that way. 

Though the video was only posted two hours ago, supporters are already talking about the possibility of a crowdfunding campaign to get it on commercial TV. There’s been no official response to that suggestion, but a general Keep Sydney Open fundraiser is happening tonight in Chippendale. Check out the Facebook page here.