Kings Cross Lockout Victims Confirm Class Action Against NSW Govt

Hugos Lounge owner Dave Evans announced at a press conference today outside the Kings Cross venue that he is looking at launching a class action legal against the New South Wales Government after he was forced to close the popular nightspot this past weekend. 

Speaking to theMusic shortly after the conference, Evans said he was serious about making a case against the Government in regards to Sydney’s lockout laws due to massive declines in revenue.

"We’re looking at it," Evans said.

"I've been speaking with my legal team and they believe we've got a really strong case to take through to the High Court…"

Evans slammed the controversial lockout laws as "ludicrous" because he feels they have "victimised" the Kings Cross district.

"At the moment it's just three suburbs that are being victimised by an unfair law," he explained.

"You can’t have such anti-competitive laws placed on initially Kings Cross and then a year and a half later they brought in only parts of the city and parts of Oxford Street."

Evans believes that if the laws are to exist at all, they should not be targeted at specific areas: "I think if the Government is serious about putting in restrictions they need to do it across the board."

"I'm not the one to tell you whether they should have restrictions or not, I'm just saying you can’t have anti-competitive laws one suburb to the next, because you can cross the street and on one side of the street you've got restrictions and on the other side you don’t."

"Some people are prospering and some people are losing their businesses like I have."

Evans said that his club which has taken a 60 percent dive in revenue since 2012 took a massive toll on him and his staff members.

Before the restrictions were introduced in February last year, Evans had 170 employees and as of yesterday he had just 70.

Sydney’s night life has also taken a beating since the laws were brought in as several establishments have been forced to close such The Spice Cellar, Flinders Hotel and most recently iconic venue The Lansdowne.

Kings Cross in particular has seen the closure of a number of popular venues in recent times due to struggles with the lockout laws including Goldfish, Trademark, Soho and The Backroom.

Yesterday, Newtown MP Jenny Leong wrote an opinion piece slamming the lockout laws and encouraged change in the policies.