It's been no secret that as of late, Sydney's nightlife has taken a massive hit since the introduction of lockout laws and now that Queensland's state government want to enforce the same policies, it comes as no surprise that the local industry are furious about the proposed changes.
The Queensland state government have had the lockout laws in mind since early on this year and are proposing a 1am lockout and 3am shutdown of all nightclubs, which would also include a midnight ban on all shots and cocktails.
Speaking to Daily Mercury, Airlie Beach nightclub owner Stacey Harvey said the introduction of the policies would be a bad move by the government and that it would have a "knock-on effect" on the Whitsunday economy.
"In a small community like this, the margins aren't great in food and beverages and hospitality in general, so any reduction in trading hours is going to have an impact on the bottom line and it's not just my trading hours that'll be impacted," Harvey said.
"If people change their habits and go out earlier, they'll finish up at restaurants earlier, go to the live music venues earlier and not stay out as long, so everyone's trading hours become affected."
If the lockout laws are to take effect in the Whitsundays alone, it is estimated that over 700 jobs will be at risk and result in a loss of $9.2 million dollars in the economy.
Sydney's clubs and bars have already taken a similar toll - most recently the closure of popular Kings Cross nightspot Hugos Lounge was due to a massive revenue decline of 60 percent.
Hugos management are currently working on launching a class action legal against the New South Wales government due to the loss of staff member's jobs.
