NSW Police are seeking even more power to shut down festivals

[News]

Following the whole Bohemian Beatfreaks saga (read more here) it’s now being reported that NSW Police are looking to be granted more power in regards to shutting down festivals.

After the police tried to shut down Bohemian Beatfreaks and then quoted them $200, 000 for police presence, the owners, Rabbits Eat Lettuce, took police to court to appeal the ridiculous conditions they were being held to.

After winning the case they were still forced interstate, however NSW police are now arguing that Rabbits Eat Lettuce shouldn’t have been able to appeal the decision by law. By arguing this they’re looking to set a landmark decision, wherein future festivals would be held to said decision, giving NSW Police a lot more power over festivals than they’d ever had before.

“If the police press on with this appeal and it succeeds, it will send a shiver down the spine of every festival organiser in NSW, because it will mean that whatever the police say is law,” NSW Greens MLC David Shoebridge told Sydney Criminal Lawyers.

Further saying that “It would be the death of the music festival industry if the police have an unappealable right to shut down events on spurious safety grounds.”

Could this spell the end of festivals in Sydney? Let us know what you think.

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