Encouraging live venues and battling alcohol-fuelled violence is a delicate balance for cultural policy-makers.
It was one of those devastating reports that government watchdogs write from time to time.
The Queensland government’s $10 million trial of three so-called ‘Drink Safe’ precincts in nightlife districts of Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Townsville had been a total failure. The trial, hastily cobbled together the former Bligh Labor government, was aimed at reducing alcohol-related violence and improving community safety in three of the largest entertainment precincts in Queensland—Fortitude Valley, Surfers Paradise and Townsville.
