Thousands dance through Sydney streets in protest against lockout laws

Thousands “reclaimed” Sydney's streets in protest against the lockout laws they say were a “knee-jerk reaction” that are destroying the city's nightlife culture.

Around 2,000 Sydneysiders of all ages turned out on Sunday afternoon for a marching dance party with numerous roving DJs that went from Hyde Park to Kings Cross before heading to Taylor Square where they were met by another 1,000 people to dance the afternoon away.

Organisers of the “Reclaim the Streets” dance party were protesting Sydney's lockout laws that force bars and clubs in the CBD to close at 3am.

The laws have caused many establishments to close permanently.

Marchers carried banners calling for Sydney to be "unlocked", dancing behind a banner that read: "Welcome to Sydney, *Conditions apply."

Chris Lego, one of the event organisers, told Yahoo7 the laws have only had a negative impact on Sydney's $14 billion nightlife industry, while at the same time developers have won big.

“The only people who have benefited from the lockout laws are property developers,” Mr Lego said before the march got underway.

The St Peters resident was also scathing of the statewide ban on alcohol takeaways past 10pm.

“What kind of global city is this when you can't pick up a bottle of wine after 10pm while on your way home from work to go and meet a date?” he asked.

Mr Lego said the turnout was a clear indication people wanted the laws to change.

“Look at it,” he said, gesturing to the thousands of dancing, peaceful protestors. “We want our city back. That's come through loud and clear.”

Two dozen police officers walked alongside the parade while police cars, motorcycles and six mounted police corralled the party along its route. After marching along William Street, the parade regrouped in Kings Cross at the very spot where a king hit on New Year's Eve 2013 would lead to the death of 18-year-old Thomas Kelly.

His death was the catalyst for the very lockout laws the marchers were protesting.

Bill Pilkington, one of the older members in the crowd and a Kings Cross resident for 17 years, saw the effect on his neighbourhood and said the law “needs revision”.

“I've witnessed the demise of the whole economic situation of Kings Cross and the surrounds,” he said. “And it's obviously a knee-jerk reaction that's made the whole community suffer for the incidental incidents of two king hits and the whole of the state now is in lockdown.

“That is just asinine, over-reaction, knee-jerk, not thinking, not smart and it needs revision now.”

There were no politicians at the event, but Leichhardt resident Tom Raue who was handing out pamphlets for the Greens said that while the laws did not cover his suburb there were knock-on effects.

“It seems there are a movements to move (lockout laws) toward Newtown and it had a chilling effect,” he said. “Given the Liberals' attitude toward our nightlife I wouldn't be shocked if it expanded.”

Mr Raue said that he did not tend to go out in the CBD, since the law's introduction Newtown has “changed significantly”. Mr Raue has witnessed two fights in the area while prior to the law's introduction he'd seen none.

A NSW Police spokesperson said the Reclaim the Streets march went ahead without incident and everyone was well behaved.