Yes. Yes. Oh god YAS.
Sydney DJ, booker and venue owner Murat Kilic has just made an epic, fist-pumping, must-watch speech about the draconian lockout laws that are steadily strangling the life out of Sydney.
Speaking at the IMS Asia-Pacific 2015 conference, Kilic delivered a keynote address that was fiery with the flames of sweet logic, exposing each and every reason why the lockouts:
a) were a reactive solution which made zero sense in the first place
b) have not fixed the problem
c) have wreaked unprecedented damage upon Sydney’s culture, nightlife, business and sense of identity.
“When Huan Antonio sang out the famous words, ‘The winner is Sydney’ about the 2000 Olympics, for the first time in my life I felt a real strong sense of identity, and I was proud to be from Sydney. Now, I’m actually embarrassed,” began Kilic, reflecting the attitudes of countless Sydneysiders.”
“Sydney had one of the most exuberant nightlifes in the world, it seethed with energy,” he continued. “…After that, we blossomed for over a decade.”
Kilic then addressed the tragic one-punch deaths of Thomas Kelly in 2012 and Daniel Christie in 2014, drawing attention to the irrationality of the government’s raft of restrictive measures – including 1.30am lockouts, 3am last drinks and a ban on shots after midnight – which were rushed in as a “solution” to the violence.
Behold the glittering good sense of the following sentence:
“Everyone was in agreeance that something needed to be done. But the government took direct aim at late trading venues, despite the attacks taking place outside venues, and taking place at 9pm.”
Kilic then spoke of the “casualties” of the lockout laws. “I was a casualty”, he confessed, referring to his venue The Spice Cellar – an EDM hub which had previously been nominated for an industry award for the Best Venue In Australia – which was forced to shut its doors as a direct result of the lockouts, just like this venue, this one, this one, this one, this one and oh yeah this one.
“After the laws were introduced, I remember standing at 3am in my venue, looking at the dancefloor, which was once heaving,” Kilic reflected, “And I was literally broken hearted. I looked at my venue and it was over. Watching something you have built with love and passion get destroyed overnight like a house of cards – it really hurts.”
“And I wasn’t the only one… The foot traffic in Kings Cross went down a whopping 85 per cent. Close to twenty clubs have closed and thousands of jobs have been lost.”
As well as turning Kings Cross into a graveyard, there’s been a rise in pedestrian accidents around the CBD (presumably as a result of everyone being turfed out onto the streets at the same time) while violence has been pushed into neighbouring suburbs, such as Newtown, where violent incidents have increased by 18% since the laws were introduced.
Kilic also discussed a trend of “cultural refugees”, who can no longer find work in Sydney because the nightlife has died, and are now migrating out of the city en masse, resulting in a kind of artistic “brain drain”.
“We have to resuscitate our scene,” Kilic implored. “I lament for all the kids who will miss out on seeing great artists perform.”
The EDM enthusiast also attacked the State Government for “trading culture for profit” and “selling its soul to the devil”, referring to its relationship with powerful lobbyists in the gambling industry and a recent amendment allowing exemptions for 16 venues inside the lockout zones, which cater for punters who want to play the pokies.
“Sydney’s nightlife was forced to change by the government. It’s in a state of flux right now and our community, our identity, our livelihood is all threatened,” he said. “We have to save Sydney’s soul.”
But he concluded hopefully: “Things can’t get much worse, so things can only get better“.
We’ll happily cheers to that with a 4am shot of tequila, buddy.
Watch his full arse-whooping speech in all its glory, below.
