Lockouts under fire Hamish Heard 27Aug08 MELBOURNE'S 2am lockout has been marred by police figures revealing a sharp increase in the number of assaults during its first month. Liquor Licensing Victoria introduced the three-month trial lockout at the start of June to try to reverse a growing trend of violence around the city's nightlife scene. But licensees have labelled the trial a disaster, with Victoria Police figures obtained by the Leader showing a rise in the number of assaults in June compared with the corresponding period last year. Reported assaults in the City of Melbourne City rose by 18 per cent to 211 for the month while property damage reports jumped 26 per cent to 164. Police refused to release statistics for this month and last, saying they would not be made public until next year. The increased violence comes despite the Safe Streets Taskforce pouring an extra 50 uniformed police on to the city's streets since October last year. Victoria Police spokeswoman Sgt Creina O'Grady downplayed the findings. "One month does not provide a true evaluation period," she said. "We won't talk about the lockout until the trial is finished." But Association of Liquor Licensing Melbourne secretary Brian Frewin said the figures were "damning evidence" that the lockout had failed. "One of our biggest fears when opposing the lockout was that if you stop people from entering nightclubs or bars, then it's going to engender some violence," Mr Frewin said. "It's quite obvious that those fears were well and truly justified." He said the lockout had only succeeded in reducing city businesses' profits. "It's not just licensed venues saying it has damaged business," Mr Frewin said. "We've had non-licensed businesses like McDonalds and Hungry Jacks complain that they are losing up to half of their normal night time trade as well." The trial will finish next Tuesday (September 2) but Mr Frewin called on Liquor Licensing Victoria director Sue Maclellan to scrap it immediately. The liquor licensing watchdog refused to rule out introducing the scheme permanently when contacted by the Leader two weeks ago, regardless of whether figures emerged showing it failed to reduce violence. A spokeswoman for Ms Maclellan said claims that the trial had failed were premature. "The director of liquor licensing does not think it is appropriate to comment on the success or otherwise of the temporary lockout until the lockout has concluded and been evaluated," the spokeswoman said. She said the evaluation would look at police figures as well as feedback from councils and licensees.

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