The Sydney Morning Herald reported yesterday that “earlier closing times, bans on selling shots and lockouts imposed on 14 Newcastle pubs have slashed the number of assaults by 31 per cent and could see similar restrictions extended across the state.”

The first study into the effects of the restrictions imposed by the former Liquor Administration Board in March last year found at least 133 fewer assaults in an area that had the highest rates of assault in the state.

The director of the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, Don Weatherburn, was ‘’stunned” by results of the bureau’s study which showed the restrictions were having a bigger effect on assault rates than any measure he’d seen.

He said the Government would be ”foolish” to ignore the results and called for the restrictions to be statewide.

The chief executive of the NSW branch of the Australian Hotels Association, Sally Fielke, said that while the restrictions had cut assaults, they had caused substantial damage to the industry.

”The reduction in assaults came at a high cost which included the closure of four hotels, the decimation of the live music industry in Newcastle and the flow-on unemployment effects,” she said.

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