Update: the NSW Supreme Court has ruled the march on Saturday cannot go ahead. The police went to court to oppose the demonstration.
Here's the statement released by Keep Sydney Open.
Earlier this week:
Get your Baird-pun ready because this Saturday night the sea of slogan shirts and witty placards will be storming through the ghostly hallows of where it all began: Kings Cross, after dark.
Keep Sydney Open (KSO) announced their third rally this morning in response to the government’s 30-minute lockout leniency, rejecting it as a holistic solution and challenging the state to dive further into culturally nurturing ideas and nightlife sustenance. Campaign manager Tyson Koh denounces the extensions, saying: "Mike Baird was clearly hoping to put the issue of lockouts to rest. For us though, we're not going to allow this to go away quietly". The call to arms is ringing once again as Koh points out the larger impact of the laws: "What's being inflicted onto the communities that are shaping our city is criminal, but we're showing that youth, far from being apathetic are willing to stand up for themselves. There are sensible, rational ways of managing the nighttime economy but our government just isn't interested. That's why we're hitting the streets, to let them know we expect more of them".
As is customary with a KSO protest, there’ll be a performative aspect with DJ sets from Flight Facilities. The local floor-fillers have been clocking up international popularity points with a slot on the recently announced Coachella line-up and they’re returning to Kings Cross to dance on the the bones of where they first met and played their earliest shows.
These rallies have certainly brought people power and passionate exposure to the critical lock-out issue affecting our city’s cultural landscape. Baird has budged an unsatisfactory smidge with the crippling effects still affecting our city's cultural status according to Koh, who says: "Our reputation as a dynamic city has suffered, with people all over the world talking about the oppressiveness of our nightlife. We're sick of giving Melbourne a free kick on this issue and we want to be proud of our city's culture again, not just our beaches".
To join the Keep Sydney Open rally, head to Kings Cross at 9pm on Saturday January 21. Check the rally event page for more information and updates.