Fight The Early Night

The South Australian government wants to make changes to our liquor licensing laws
which will have a serious impact on the way we all enjoy our night out in Adelaide.
Some of these changes have already been tried interstate and in other parts
of the world and it has been shown that they don't work!


In fact cutting back trading hours for outlets selling liquor more often leads to negative consequences.
In Victoria the police union even questioned proposals for a 2am lockout aimed at reducing opening hours for hotels in that city's centre, calling instead for more police to boost foot patrols in the city.

Even former Consumer Affairs Minister in the Rann government, Jennifer Rankin, agreed that "any
lockout would impact not only on young ones enjoying a night out, but all age groups". How true.
So why has this government now changed its mind?

All of us in the CBD and the West End support whole heartedly a safer environment
for visitors to the precinct. But this safer environment won't be achieved by changes to liquor
laws and trading times. It is simple... we need more police in the area to protect and support South Australians enjoying a night out.

The people wanting to make changes to our licensing laws do not understand that
young people today often don't venture out until late in the evening.

To reduce opening hours of licensed premises flies in the face of this social norm.
The trouble is that many of the people wanting to make changes to the law are already in bed
by 9pm and don't understand this modern trend to go out late and stay out late.

South Australia will slip into the dark ages of prohibition and six o'clock closing if hotels are stripped
of their 24-hour trading licenses. It would also have a devastating effect on our tourism industry
undermining all the efforts of our state to shake off its 'nanny' image.

Visit the website, spread the word, leave some comments or let those making the changes know how you feel!

http://www.fighttheearlynight.com/

All you need is 10,000+ people holding a protest in the centre of Adelaide against the liquor laws, and they'll be undone...

I don't care enough at all these days to bother doing anything.

I even care less about what goes on in the West End.

If I was knocking on the door of 40 I probably wouldn't care either

... But I'm 25 and this is a joke

I'm married and old and nanna-like and I don't know if I could make it to 4am any more! But a couple of years ago I'd be outraged at this.

They mention the West End, are they just talking about The Strathmont being open 24 hours?

red square/club 59 have longer licences too i reckon

even when i was going out a lot, 5am was enough for me. the "recovery" clubs were so seedy, id much rather go home to "recover".

What are the proposed changes?

I honestly don't understand why any venue needs to be open 24 hours a day. From what I've seen it is the venues with these licenses that are kicking up most of the fuss about things.

i work near hindley street and when i am on early shifts i will walk past some of these 24 hour venues. they arent very busy, and the sad thing is some of the places have people in there playing pokies at 630am on a weekday. not a good look...

What are the proposed changes?

I honestly don't understand why any venue needs to be open 24 hours a day. From what I've seen it is the venues with these licenses that are kicking up most of the fuss about things.

It's probably because a lot of those venues are shit and people wont go to them unless everything else around is closed.

The official curfew in Thailand is 2-3am and it obviously doesn't hurt nightlife here a great deal.

I find I just start a little earlier than I used to in Adelaide, ie. instead of pre-drinks somewhere and turning up at 11-12 you push it all back an hour or so and get there at 10ish.

On paper it's easy to be outraged, believe me, I was when I heard about that proposal a few years ago, however having experienced it here, it's not really that big a deal. What's an hour or two?

Besides it's not like Adelaide has those massive d&b shows anymore where you want it to go that late so that all of the internationals get a few hours each.

If venues closed a little earlier it might at least encourage people to go out earlier.

Most people only spend 3-4 hours at a club when they go out so it really shouldn't make that big a difference.

spot on lads.

if i was still going out and getting on it i'd be pissed though.

I used to love watching the sun come up outside Traffic on the laawn over the road. And sit outside St Pauls and do the same.
Then we'd go off to a friend's for recovery. So if this was in then the party would start at 9pm and end at 4 rather than start at 11 and end at 6am. And we'd have still gone off for recovery.

As I mentioned before though, this would have annoyed me properly when I was going out.

I used to love watching the sun come up outside Traffic on the laawn over the road.

Eewww. Seeing everyone outside in the sketchy sunlight when you walked outside the club was the worst! Completely depresses you because you know it's all over. Though I suppose when you're going on to a recovery it's gotta be faced at some point anyway haha.

This kind of bullshit causes more harm than good.

History shows when pubs close early, people drink as much as they can in a shorter amount of time, rather than spreading it out over the whole night.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_o%27clock_swill

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_o%27clock_swill

That sounds awesome.

Instead, it often fuelled an hour-long speed-drinking session, as men raced to get as drunk as possible in the limited time available.

I can picture all these guys stumbling out at 6pm with their bowler hats and neat suits, absolutely maggoted.

True to form, doddery old SA was the first to introduce the early closing hours, and the last to abolish them lol.

   Alot of issues surrounding this, one thing that springs to mind is seeing beyond-paro suits out at 4.a.m  
There's so many wrong things that could surround an image like that, drink spiking, alcohol and/or sexual/verbal/physical abuse etc. etc... (yeah we all know what varying roles alcohol plays in society and how people  choose to interpret those, varies in itself ).
   The adventurous and pro-active people of society will find ways around it, if the legislation goes ahead... Otherwise plan your nights, if this takes away the spontaneity and "fun" for people, find another way around it !!!  


* read between the lines ( ffs ! ) edits suck *

So a drunk guy in a suit = drink spiking and sexual abuse?

Righto

So a drunk guy in a suit = drink spiking and sexual abuse?

Righto

last time I saw Rob Frost he was drunk and in a suit......

he would only be able to sexually abuse himself though in that state

at least his conversations would genuinely intelligent though not drunken drool
 and was he spotted out at 4.a.m ? ( time of day makes a big difference )

last time i saw him, he was ready for drunk and ready for sleep before the act he wanted to see came on, and that was at a hip hop show so that was probably before midnight

This kind of bullshit causes more harm than good.

History shows when pubs close early, people drink as much as they can in a shorter amount of time, rather than spreading it out over the whole night.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_o%27clock_swill

i had mates in brizvegas (and melbs?) when this shit was tested and remember complaints about not being able to get a cab and more fights.

sounds like a plan. get the sniffer dogs out there too while youre at it.

what society needs is more rules and regulations and less freedom...

that was sarcasm in case you missed it.

really, i could not care too much... if I was 21 still, I would... I struggle drinking til 4 in the morn, I cant see how it'll improve things, if they want more safety, bring more police...


I honestly dont know why anyone would want to go hang out at rise, the rosemont or the red square 24 hour thing anyway,.

I honestly dont know why anyone would want to go hang out at rise,

especially cos rise is now a gym...

Having cut my teeth on the club circuit on the Sunshine Coast I have witnessed first hand the failure of these proposals.
In the mid nineties Mooloolaba's local council were given the right to change licensed venues closing time from 5am to 3am. This did nothing to deter an already hectically violent strip. Fight's and other drunken crime happened throughout the entire night, especially between 1am and 3am. Yes, we did have brawling at 5am but shutting everyone down at 3am only increased violence because of more people being thrown out at the "witching hour" of 3am.

From here the council proposed a "lock out" system. Clubs could stay open until 3am, but would have to refuse entry to anyone after 1:30am.
This caused more headaches, especially for door staff as tourists not knowing the local laws would amp up, causing attitude from locals and again, all out brawls would be an every night thing for the strip. I remember numerous times the security from the club up the road would be overwhelmed while an all in brawl started as an all in brawl would happen at the same time in our venue (usually around 1:40am...who woulda thunk ). This created a fight with at least 30 people involved over a 50 metre area on the strip. Like I said this happened numerous times to the point not only security were involved, but bar staff and the odd DJ as well.

The laws were forced on the locals so we had to grin and bear it, eventually having numbers decline shutting down a lot of venues and depleting what used to be a thriving scene which could have grown into a strip famous for a good night out, not acts of violence.

Some of the more serious incidents led to some very sad and disappointing outcomes, such as stabbings, one I know led to a guy being killed, brain damage and face re-constuctions to a number of patrons being king hit, by security and other patrons, drive by's on certain venues on two occasions and many more I choose to forget. But hey, this is all just collateral damage for the greater good right? Try telling that to the guy that now has to be spoon fed.

Now, Mooloolaba is known for it's shit venues, crap nights out and has still the same fights and brawls seen pre "shut down era" and also seen on any club strip in Australia.

The industry doesn't need the law telling us when and where we can be. It needs better education within the security sector to diffuse a situation, better police presence, and stricter laws on who can obtain a liquor license.

and there's plenty more where that came from...
   I'd be really interested to also hear what some Women think of the whole concept of "early" closing times for Adelaide's clubs...
   We all know there's major party animals on both sides of the gender "fence"...
   But really, does anyone know anyone who binges every weekend, and you're a friend of theirs and aren't just a little bit concerned for their safety and rational ability to tell what's going on when they are totally off tap or semi-conscious ?
   Are you not concerned for them ?
   Are you waiting for something bad to happen so you can say "i told you so" and then maybe put it down to the other gender ( takes two to tango though everyone, saying that it's those bastard men/women to make someone feel better after the fact, isn't really helping :wave )
 Would it make any difference, would they see it as you trying to spoil their "fun" ( nothing "fun" about skipping a whole day from 6 hours or so of drinking imho )
   How do people really feel when they see this kinda thing ? Is it all just entertainment to you ? Or should we all be la-di-da and let people be "themselves" ( if that were true, they'd be binge drinking every day since they were born ) Is it just about booze ?, or is the actual "cost" of all this more than what tax payers can support ( i'm sure there's a huge amount of money spent on the after-effects of binge-drinking and it's run-off effects for the future and the overall ability of a state/nation to support itself)
yeah, of course, who gives a f%#k ( *glug* glug* glug*  )

*snip*

None of this matters.

The way you personally feel about a situation should never override the facts of a debate.

People are going to behave like this every week, no matter when bars close.

Curfew has failed in every Australian city it's ever been tried in, so why keep spending the public's money to police and promote something that simply doesn't work?

There are other, better ways of dealing with this.

There are other, better ways of dealing with this.

Maybe try prohibition?

   that would definately do the trick

What are the actual changes being proposed? The only thing I've heard is cutting back the venues with 24 hour licenses so they have to close for 3 hours.

If that is it I really don't see what the fuss is all about.

What are the actual changes being proposed? The only thing I've heard is cutting back the venues with 24 hour licenses so they have to close for 3 hours.

If that is it I really don't see what the fuss is all about.

If that's all it is I don't really see the point in doing it anyway.

NOT THE ROSEMONT!!

 

my 2nd home

What are the actual changes being proposed? The only thing I've heard is cutting back the venues with 24 hour licenses so they have to close for 3 hours.

If that is it I really don't see what the fuss is all about.

So you want pubs and clubs to close for nearly a whole day each week?

That's 52 days a venue stays closed a year.

If it's 10 venues, that's 520 days a year venues are not selling alcohol.

Let's assume a very conservative 4 bottles of wine are sold an hour per venue; that's nearly 50000 bottles of wine which aren't sold per year.

And let's assume another very conservative profit of $2 per bottle. That's a loss of about $100,000 a year.

Or two full time people's wages.

Just something to consider...

i doubt many people would be drinking wine in such a classy establishment between the hours of 3-6am

I see your point J but what about the additional strain on hospitals caused my drug and alcohol fueled violence?

I don't agree that closing these establishments will curb the violence in the same way i also don't agree that increasing the time someone stays on their learner or provisional license will decrease the amount of young deaths on the roads... we live in a society obsessed with one sided statistics and scare mongering from both the media and the govt. If they decide this is the bandwagon to jump on then they'll jump on it. We don't have any say any more.

Sent from my U20i using Tapatalk

really i think the only places that should have 24/7 licences should be showing sport, like the rosemont (although i believe they now have a lockout from 3am?). from what i hear it's red square behind the push for the whole "fight the early night" and that would have to be the busiest place after most clubs shut. when starting work at 7am down that way on a weekend there is always lots of cops around and usually someone getting arrested. tbh by 7am it's time to go home surely....

just had a look on their website ( http://www.fighttheearlynight.com/ )and there is a voiceover saying the government wants to reduce hours til 4 or 5am... 4 is a bit early for me, 5am probably time to start thinking about heading home anyway.

This would have to encourage even messier recoveries, which would start even earlier!!!

Awesome

from what i hear it's red square behind the push for the whole "fight the early night" and that would have to be the busiest place after most clubs shut.

Only just read this....just wondering, where did you here that? I have known the family which own that place since I was 12. Not once have I noticed them doing that? I may be wrong however.... but they would have  posted all of their "fight the early night" promo all over their facebooks at least

Only just read this....just wondering, where did you here that? I have known the family which own that place since I was 12. Not once have I noticed them doing that? I may be wrong however.... but they would have  posted all of their "fight the early night" promo all over their facebooks at least

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=147061041971543
Admins: Red Square (creator)

Oh


FAIL


 

Thats definately them, thats the oldest brothers name.

Curfew has failed in every Australian city it's ever been tried in, so why keep spending the public's money to police and promote something that simply doesn't work?
There are other, better ways of dealing with this.

If it's 10 venues, that's 520 days a year venues are not selling alcohol.
Let's assume a very conservative 4 bottles of wine are sold an hour per venue; that's nearly 50000 bottles of wine which aren't sold per year.
And let's assume another very conservative profit of $2 per bottle. That's a loss of about $100,000 a year.

   Consider that i don't have kids/teenagers/etc, neither do you, but we're both more than capable of empathising with more than one section of any community, but it doesn't matter how i feel , does it matter how other people feel about this "debate" Julian, even if they feel the same way that i might do ?
   Alcohol abuse costs ALL Australian people $36 *billion a year ... that's what *this is all about... yeah, there ARE other ways of dealing with this serious issue ( i have never got super-blind-paro-off-my-face and i still enjoyed my nights ( and days) out immensely !!! )
   65% of serious assaults (in Adelaide alone) are alcohol related.
   Ask anyone who has had a chair thown at them for no reason, or someone who has been innocently caught in the middle of a brawl, whether their feelings on the issue matter...
   Is  a manditory closing of venues between 4-7am or 5-8am too much to ask ?
Or would you all prefer greater police prescence on the major party streets and bigger on-the-spot fines for unruly behavior.
   Someone else ( usually someone who has issues of their own and likes to be in a position of community authority) telling them when they've had enough and are acting like a dawk, purely based on what they see at the time, without knowing sweet f.a. about the individual, their upbringing or their "shitty" week they've had and they just wanna *get blotto and forget all about it for several hours, cause they've worked their arse off all week and wanna spend their earned money how they want ( bigger fines are just gonna get them more ticked off, guaranteed !!! )...    Don't tell me this ain't about emotions... it's all about emotions, understanding why people do *this is paramount to preventing things like this from happening in the first place... but yeah, strike down anyone who figures out someone else's problems before they do themselves, how dare they help someone who's just as much a part of this world as you and I (<< sarcasm,cynicism and disgust at the apathy written all over that last sentence )
   So in Newcastle 18 months ago, they stopped the 5am closing times and made them 3:30am closing times. The number of assaults has since fallen 37%. But we're from Adelaide, so we can't "assume" the results will be anywhere near that, cause it's "Adelaide"   ( bullshit, whatever, etc ).
   Sure, the economy of that industry fell by more than 20% in that time... but you chat to anyone who works in the "late-night" hospitality industry, all convenience store and taxi crew included, ask them what they think about that ? And i can tell you that if ANY city was void of any alcohol related assaults, more people, from all age-groups, would "feel" like going out more often ? I know this cause i'm one of those people who only go out to things that i know are proper and there's no chance of "pissy-fits" ( that's my new word, kinda like a "hissy-fit" except, you know, you're pissed instead ). There's always risks, i know that, but in other cultures and countires, i have never seen any rude shit caused by alcohol, a bit of raised voices and heated discussions, sure, but no violence or hatred of any kind...
   2.1 million Australians, 12% of the population cost everyone $36 billion a year,  so they can drink to get drunk ( yeah, i know,  a very prolific and talented song writer/musician wrote a song about drinking to get drunk, but that's HER recollection of HER experience, doesn't mean that it's a recollection of YOUR experience )
   Or can people manage to be in total control of your own actions, even when they are having the best time of their lives until next best time of thier lives ? hmmm.... just something to consider indeed...   THIRTY-SIX BILLION A YEAR EVERYONE , call that scare mongering or whatever you want, that's an amount that's real hard to debate against...


* all undelined text comes from Lainie Anderson's article on page 29 of last Sunday's Mail , can't find it online, fark ! *

http://www.fallacyfiles.org/volvofal.html

http://www.fallacyfiles.org/cumhocfa.html

and various others.

Great links Pseudo Coup   Using information to destabilise other information
   Kinda like what this whole alcohol/early closing times/assaults/statistics is about... Finding a "way" to link things together, sensationalise them and make a case for and against...
"Everything in moderation", or "who gives a f%$k" or "humans create their own problems" are these fallacies too ?
   If this "fallacy" of the link between alcohol and violence costing $36 billion of yours, mine, everyone's taxes per year is true... it's far from a "victory" for anything other than negative human behavior associated with a human creation isn't it ?
   Or are you sugggesting this is part of that same-old conspiracy to keep people from doing whatever they want, which within society, seems to be taboo
   Next i suppose you'll want to prove against any case for legalisation/regulation of any naturally occcuring illicit substances not having any positive affect on how people choose to let their hair down ( people always would prefer the best "feeling" of their life without the "hangover", but sadly, that's not the way life on this planet is   )
  Apologies, but making the case for not doing anything, due to the fact that " Events of type C have always been accompanied by events of type E.
Therefore, events of type C cause events of type E." and letting things "free market" themselves out of the problem, especially when it's a human-induced one, is to me, a bit of a apathetic approach to something that affects at least one person that every individual has had some interaction with...
   The idea of logical fallacies itself does cause frustration, cause we can't prove or disprove what these statistics and "advisory council's" research is meant to be for, we read about it via a third or fourth party.
   It's not jumping to conclusions for anyone who reads that information, especially when the conclusions have been reached and then published.
   And it's not  an act of gullability if your deliberately being lied to either
   Safe to say that i have never had a night completely ruined by alcohol fuelled violence, a night when you're not deliberatley out to cause s&*t... and haven't done or said anything to upset or offend anyone.
   But you try telling that to a few people i know, maybe even a few people you know... !!
   Keep in mind those links and the information you provided here are the creations of humans too.
   So we are either all logical fallacies, or we can certainly find a way to make anything seem as such...I often wonder if this is done because the problem is too big to do anything about anymore...   




  

extrapolate like you mean it! 

Or would you all prefer greater police prescence on the major party streets and bigger on-the-spot fines for unruly behavior.

So, you're saying people will feel unsafe with a bigger police presence, compared to a curfew?

   Those underlined sections were quotes from a newspaper article i decided to bring to people's attention...which is yet another person's opinion on the whole "fight the early night" campaign...
   Of course, being it was a statewide newspaper, the writer was probably not allowed to point out things like who initiated the campaign and (maybe) why, as pointed out in this thread earlier.
   All i was trying to point out, is that there is a cost to all this > ( alcohol related assaults, violence and sexual harassment against women and men ), how much it has already been estimated to be, and whether people would prefer to pay less, or more, for being able to safely enjoy a night out with their mates !
   The long term emotional "scars" are what people seem to have trouble empathising with, and innocent victims of this, who have been absolute gems of people, take ages to work through it in their minds...To turn ones head and think " ,well, they deserved it" ... " it was bound to happen sooner or later" are the kinda people i really don't care much for...    
   Apathy will pretty much kill any positive progress in making a society more coherent and tolerant of an individuals choice.
 So, no, i would prefer to not have people in the prime of their life, to later be remembered for all the wrong reasons. And instead have education a lot earlier in life, to prevent people from making fools of themselves, others and unnecessarily creating situations that deliberately cause harm... Lessons are learnt, fair enough, but some lessons are better left to open discussions and the difference between right and wrong.
   I dare anyone to deny that people and society, would not be better off, by being taught how to show respect, as well, rather than just taught their rights.
 Yes, we all get a bit sloppy on the turps now and again... but i guess I'm lucky to have a group of friends who tell me when I'm acting like a clown and even luckier that I've been raised to be able to take responsibility for my own actions and tone it down and not be so careless and selfish, so that everyone can enjoy themselves... all phD-related evaluations  aside, it will always be a few who push things to where they are now, legislatively speaking...
   There's no point doing the " whose fault is it " scenario. There needs to be practical solutions that don't restrict people's chances to party.

   The whole concept of gov't regulated booze, is either one of the greatest social experiments ever utilised to create separatist social norms ( add ciggy's in there if you want ) ... or it is something that has been actively implemented to keep both sides ( the traders and the law ) cashed up...
   The cynical and somewhat sadistic side of that is, there are some people who are quite willing to let citizens fall through the cracks...
   Don't even need to get started on what kinda emotions that conjures up in their minds...and how it may make them feel, knowing that they themselves facilitate it...
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotional_intelligence

I saw the mandatory 3am lockout happen in Brisbane. It caused many problems and solved none.

SA is the Festival State and enjoys profits from the resulting tourism. Yet some want to stamp out the entertainment industry that fuels the festivities. You can't have it both ways.

Hey let's just ban all music, drinking and dancing 'cos hell somebody somewhere might get hurt. Won't somebody please think of the children?

All i was trying to point out, is that there is a cost to all this

Of course there is. There is a cost to everything. Thing is, you've got to weight the costs.

I'm not arguing alcohol doesn't do damage - I'm asking if this curfew is the right way to limit that damage.

It's been tried before, in Adelaide, in Brisbane, in Sydney, in Melbourne, in Geelong, in Darwin, in Perth... IT'S NEVER WORKED.

History shows it's a piss weak method of doing anything to curb alcohol abuse.

Why waste time and resources in implementing it when there are better alternatives, such as more police, better laws, and better education.

3am lock out is already in place in Darwin.

Certainly doesnt stop people going out and having a great time and having fun. The mood here is still as festive as ever. The main strip and clubs here are pumping week in week out.


Darwin nightlife is certainly different to Adelaides however. In Adelaide unless you are a local and you know whats on and where to head for the night  (i.e. venues are scattered all over the place) Adelaide can be quite boring, whereas Darwin has one main strip with all of the clubs and outdoor bars one after the other.

Sure people will still create fun even with a curfew - doesn't make the curfew right.

In Brisbane, there has never been enough taxis per punter. With the 3am lockout, everyone was trying to get a cab at once, resulting in fistfights. The govt answer? Taxpayer funded fake taxi line cops with special uniforms and no power. Niceone.

More legislation is rarely the answer.

iiiiiiiiiiiiits baaaaaaaaaaaack...

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/three-hour-alcohol-ban-to-stop-binge-drinking-violence/story-e6frea83-1226026123310

and again

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/close-adelaide-city-pubs-at-3am-push/story-e6frea83-1226096055176

      and again    and again  and again    and again   and again   and again   and again   and again and again and again and again    

Probably the best post I've ever seen from you m.r.third-eye.

 

Probably the best post I've ever seen from you m.r.third-eye.

 

Rather brief by his standards as well.

Rather brief by his standards as well.

Not really.

A picture tells a thousand words!

 Still brief

it's a vicious cycle, and my posts can be too 

 aha!

 Sorry Bennie I forgot the

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/bars-to-trade-through-the-night/story-e6frea83-1226102832974

CITY pubs and clubs will be allowed to trade through the night after a State Government plan to impose a mandatory three-hour shutdown was defeated.

Upper House Opposition MPs last night (Tuesday, July 27) voted against a pub lock-down from 4am to 7am - a key reform included in proposed changes to the Liquor Licensing Bill.

The government does not hold a majority of seats in the Upper House.

The government last July revealed plans to ban licensed venues from round-the-clock trading, as part of a raft of strategies to curb alcohol-fuelled violence.

Excellent. Now the normal alcohol fuelled violence will remain spread out over the night instead of being condensed into a smaller timeframe making it harder for the authorities to manage.

stay tuned for the next instalment

Excellent. Now the normal alcohol fuelled violence will remain spread out over the night instead of being condensed into a smaller timeframe making it harder for the authorities to manage.

What makes you think closing bars at 3am would condense all alcohol fueled violence into one time period? I've seen drunk people punching on at 10pm in the city.

What makes you think closing bars at 3am would condense all alcohol fueled violence into one time period? I've seen drunk people punching on at 10pm in the city.

My in laws went to see Olivia Newton John in the city a little while ago and saw two girls having a punchup at about 7pm. My Father In Law is a reverend and was somewhat shocked!

I found the story hilarious, probably because of my Mother in Law's facial expression.

What makes you think closing bars at 3am would condense all alcohol fueled violence into one time period? I've seen drunk people punching on at 10pm in the city.

Not sure, I guess bigger crowds outside at the same time just increases the risk. What makes you think it wouldn't?

What I said earlier. I've seen drunk people fighting far earlier than 3am and I can't make the connection as to why this would stop if bars closed at a certain time. I can only really see it increasing the number of fights, because as you said, there would be a far higher concentration of drunks wandering the streets than there usually is.

Sure, I'm not saying there are never or won't ever be fights at any other random times.

But there is some logic to the theory that having people moving around town spread out over the whole night rather than having a higher density of people moving around immediately after places close at 3AM should result in less fights, right?

I think I've misinterpreted your original post. I thought you were being sarcastic with your "excellent" remark and saying the curfew would make it easier to police, as most fights would be occurring at the same time.

My bad

Well the 'excellent' part was sarcasm. That said if the violence is spread out over the whole night I guess it should make policing easier.

That said the cops are probably too busy fining people for having a few tablets or dope on them to worry about harmless stuff like people getting glassed... 

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I watched the 3am curfew happen in Brisbane. It made things much, much worse. And Brisbane nightlife is waaay more aggro than ADL. Drunk punters who are forced to move on + everyone rushing for a cab = angry punch on.

The govt tried a 2am curfew in Melbs and it failed miserably there as well (ie led to increased violence).

Fine/jail the violent troublemakers. Don't punish the innocent who are there to enjoy the music. We are the festival state, not the boring state.