NSW/SYD: banning colours summary so far

For those who don't want to wade through the lot:

From what I can see, this is what is happening:

Licence conditions on some pubs in Parammatta are being changed to ban
OMC colours and regalia and various people want it to be extended too
all pubs. This is so the publicans can call the police to remove people
who are wearing these even if the wearers are otherwise inoffensive.
Previously they could only enforce a dresscode using their own security
staff and that could lead to difficulty and other patrons being scared
off.

This is giving publicans bigger teeth that they can bite harder and
faster with, but the idea of a dress code is not new. The ability to
enforce it with bigger firepower is.

These are the concerns:

- It is possible for this to give publicans more reason (and possibly
a requirement, it isn't clear if this will be in all licence renewals
or only if the pub asks for it) to have a dress code they might not have
had before.

- If more pubs have this dress code, they might enforce it in a way
that stops non-1%ers from getting in the pub. We have no way to know
if this will happen. Some think it likely, some think it unlikely

- It isn't known if this will stop at pubs. If it is being used as a
way to deal with organised crime it might be extended to other premises.
There's no mention of this anywhere official or semi-official, except
that police are "watching with interest".


Then there are the moral/ethical/princple arguments:

- No matter which group is targetted, refusing someone
entry because they are wearing clothing to indicate affiliation with
a certain social or political group is wrong, and should be opposed on
those grounds, not because there might be fallout on other riders.

- the 1%ers get upset when people wear colours and are
now whinging when they get a taste of their own medicine - whinging
that a bigger nastier gang (the Blue Gang) will whack them for it. And
that if they want support they will have to deserve same which they are
showing no signs of trying to do.

- 1%ers have brought it on themselves and so can't complain. They
revel in their reputation and now when it bites they get upset.

- There are bad bastards in every group, count the criminal
convictions held by members of the RSL, so targetting one group that
has wrong'uns and not another is bad.

Have I missed any?


Zebee

On Jan 18, 11:03 am, Zebee Johnstone <zeb... RemoveThis @gmail.com> wrote:
> For those who don't want to wade through the lot:
>
> From what I can see, this is what is happening:
>
> Licence conditions on some pubs in Parammatta are being changed to ban
> OMC colours and regalia and various people want it to be extended too
> all pubs.  This is so the publicans can call the police to remove people
> who are wearing these even if the wearers are otherwise inoffensive.
> Previously they could only enforce a dresscode using their own security
> staff and that could lead to difficulty and other patrons being scared
> off.
>
> This is giving publicans bigger teeth that they can bite harder and
> faster with, but the idea of a dress code is not new.  The ability to
> enforce it with bigger firepower is.
>
> These are the concerns:
>
>  - It is possible for this to give publicans more reason (and possibly
> a requirement, it isn't clear if this will be in all licence renewals
> or only if the pub asks for it) to have a dress code they might not have
> had before.
>
>  - If more pubs have this dress code, they might enforce it in a way
> that stops non-1%ers from getting in the pub.  We have no way to know
> if this will happen.  Some think it likely, some think it unlikely
>
>  - It isn't known if this will stop at pubs. If it is being used as a
> way to deal with organised crime it might be extended to other premises.
> There's no mention of this anywhere official or semi-official, except
> that police are "watching with interest".
>
> Then there are the moral/ethical/princple arguments:
>
>  - No matter which group is targetted, refusing someone
> entry because they are wearing clothing to indicate affiliation with
> a certain social or political group is wrong, and should be opposed on
> those grounds, not because there might be fallout on other riders.
>
>  - the 1%ers get upset when people wear colours and are
> now whinging when they get a taste of their own medicine - whinging
> that a bigger nastier gang (the Blue Gang) will whack them for it. And
> that if they want support they will have to deserve same which they are
> showing no signs of trying to do.
>
>  - 1%ers have brought it on themselves and so can't complain.  They
> revel in their reputation and now when it bites they get upset.
>
>  - There are bad bastards in every group, count the criminal
> convictions held by members of the RSL, so targetting one group that
> has wrong'uns and not another is bad.
>

A fair summary, I'd just add the point raised by Big that where this
is being driven from has some relevance to the appropriate reaction.
If it's just some publicans wanting a better / more effective way of
managing who they have on premises, it's one thing. If this is going
to be forced on all pubs whether they want it or not, then that's
another thing.

In short there's a big difference between assisting a publican to
discriminate effectively and safely, and forcing a publican to
discriminate against his/her will.

JL