'You're Out Of The Inner City Now': Neil Finn Mocks Lockouts At Fleetwood Mac's Sydney Show

16 August 2019 | 10:23 am | Lauren Baxter

“You’re out of the inner city now, so that means you can have a good time."

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Neil Finn has joined the fight against Sydney's controversial lockout laws, slamming the regulations at Fleetwood Mac's Sydney show last night. 

Attending the gig, The Music's reviewer noted Finn did not engage with his usual between-song patter, but did take the opportunity to slam the inner city's lockout laws as the band performed at Qudos Bank Arena, some 15km out of the CBD.

“You’re out of the inner city now, so that means you can have a good time," Finn joked. 

"You can drink and dance as much as you like.”

Check out the full gig review here.

It's not the first time Finn has made headlines for criticising the lockout laws. Back in 2016, the Crowded House frontman engaged in a Twitter spat, following the band's shows at the Sydney Opera House which he allegedly said, "Let's wake up Alan Jones."

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Finn's recent comments come following an investigation last month revealed just how damaging lockout laws have been in Sydney since being introduced.

The data, contained in the city’s submission to the parliamentary inquiry into Sydney’s night time economy, shows that almost 500,000 fewer people under the age of 35 have visited Sydney each year since 2014, the same year lockouts took effect.

"In 2014 I warned the State Government that its lockout laws would have a devastating impact on the night time economy, and recommended a review of the lockout experiment after one year. Six years later, I’m sad to say these predictions were accurate,” Lord Mayor Clover Moore said.

“The collateral damage has been devastating. Scores of small bars, live music venues, well-managed clubs and pubs have closed – not to mention a reduction in business diversity, with 50% fewer restaurants and only 9% of entertainment business trading beyond midnight.”

The parliamentary inquiry into Sydney's night time economy kicked off in earlier this month, with both the lockout laws (which have been in place since 2014) and the subsequent "music venue crisis" key topics in discussions.