Businessman's viral post: 'Destruction of Sydney’s nightlife is near complete'

Sydney's lockout laws have been a source of controversy since they were implemented in the Australian city in 2014, but an article being shared relentlessly online provides a brutal assessment of how destructive the laws have been.

CEO and founder of Freelancer.com, Matt Barrie, unleashed an 8,000-word article on Tuesday titled "Would the last person in Sydney please turn the lights out?" He details inconsistencies in statistics released by the various government levels, questions the "nanny state" mentality of the city and claims the people in power are on a "moral crusade" to control regular citizens.

See also: Sydney, it's not me, it's you: The fight against the 'nanny state'

The lockout laws prohibit patrons from entering licensed venues in Sydney's city centre after 1:30 a.m., with venues required to stop alcohol service after 3 a.m. and liquor store banned from selling alcohol after 10 p.m. Strangely, you can still enter the nearby The Star casino after 1:30 a.m. and get a drink all night long, and you can enter some pubs if your intention is to gamble.

Since the strict laws were implemented, following two high-profile instances of fatal violence on the streets of Sydney, there has been a groundswell of criticism, campaigns, think-pieces and high-profile detractors.

Barrie's article looks at how these laws have decimated businesses, lined the pockets of Sydney's casino owners, claims they "push a prohibitionist evangelical agenda," and turned the city into a no-fun town.

Image: Matt Barrie

Barrie laments the loss of Sydney as an international city, which seemed a surefire prospect after it hosted the Olympics in 2000. Now, Barrie complains, it's a merely an "international joke," regressing into a "ghost town" that has ended up resembling one of America's former vibrant, industrial capitals.

"It clearly hit a nerve, it's tapped into an extremely strong undercurrent of public sentiment," Barrie told Mashable Australia via email. "I hope the lockout gets dropped but the damage has already been done. Sydney has turned into Detroit."

Targeting the notion that Sydney needs such regulation as it is unsafe and rammed with ruffians, Barrie writes that Sydney is actually much safer than it is portrayed.

Barrie, who knows a thing or two about running a tech company, also highlights his struggle to attract and retain top talent in Sydney as a result of its nanny state laws. In the article, a recruiter tells Barrie that candidates see the country as a "backwater."

"We’ve tried in the past looking, nobody from Silicon Valley wants to come to Australia for any role. We used to think maybe someone would move for a lifestyle thing, but they don’t want to do that anymore," the recruiter said. "Anyone young and intelligent is fleeing the country. In the tech industry the brain drain is accelerating," Barrie added.

The article has since been read more than 200,000 times on LinkedIn and was even shared by Victoria's Premier Daniel Andrews, who appeared to be dancing on Sydney's grave. The post has since been deleted and Andrews has been contacted for comment.

"The City is committed to a safe and inclusive city at night for all residents, workers and visitors, and we support measures to address alcohol-related crime and violence," a City of Sydney spokesperson told Mashable Australia via email.

"We have always recommended an evaluation of lock-out laws and their impact on Sydney’s late-night precincts, and we will work closely with the state government on its upcoming review.”

You can read Barrie's article in full here. The state's Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing has been contacted for comment.