The South Australian government has been accused of manipulating a recent review into the state’s lockout laws to make them seem more effective.
A group called the Late Night Venues Association is claiming to have obtained an OG copy of the review’s findings, which concludes that the 3am lockout had not resulted in a “strong decrease in late night alcohol-related offending behaviour”.
Association president Tim Swaine is accusing the Government, and police, of changing the wording of the review to suit their own agenda.
“In the end the report was, in our view, drafted in such a way to give an impression that in fact the lockout had been effective,” he tells the ABC.
“The trend before the lockout was introduced was that there was a decline in crime in the Adelaide CBD area and the lockout is actually irrelevant to that general trend,” he continues, arguing that the lockouts are loathed by both businesses and punters alike.
“Our members tell us that the lockout laws are bad for business, and as a result of a community survey conducted as part of the review, patrons don’t like the lockout laws,” he says. “We don’t think the lockout laws are contributing anything to the safety of the city.”
His words are undoubtedly triggering for Sydney-siders, with anti-lockouts advocates levelling similar claims of manipulation at state government stats spruiking the effectiveness of its own lockout laws.
Back when Mike Baird was Premier, the director of the NSW Bureau Of Statistics itself pulled him up for using dodgy data to plug the lockouts.
Maybe Aussie pollies are taking too many pages out of US President Donald Trump’s book when it comes to their portrayal of realy.
Take it easy on the #alternativefacts guys.
