Tyson Koh and the Keep Sydney Open team may be planning a big political move, asking followers whether they should run for parliament.
“Since our campaign began, we have made good progress in opening up Sydney’s nightlife once more”, they announced yesterday. “This progress, however, has been slow and the government is not doing all it can to improve the situation. Adding to this the interests of developers and big business, we fear it will take years to make real change.
“Running for parliament is a way of ensuring our voices can’t be ignored.
“As supporters of our group and a safe and vibrant Sydney, we’re leaving it in your hands. If we can get the required 750 members, then we will take the next step.”
Here’s the form you’ll need to fill out.
It’s a bit complicated, but here are the steps to take.
- Print and fill in the form, writing ‘Keep Sydney Open Party’ as the full name of the party
- Send to: Keep Sydney Open, PO Box 280, Darlinghurst, NSW, 1300
- You may receive a letter from the NSW Electoral Commission asking to confirm your details and support via free reply post. Please do.
As always, on the net, and in real life, comments on the KSO Facebook are split, with many urging the group to stay independent of parliament.
In response to such sentiment, a Keep Sydney Open spokesperson wrote, “We asked ourselves what having another 15,000 person rally would achieve, and the answer is not much. The noise we initially made forced the state government to pivot in the right direction, however it’s clear that they aren’t going to take the measures that are necessary right now to turn Sydney’s night-time economy around.
“We are reaching the limits of what we can achieve through lobbying and the government has made it clear they will not budge on their painfully slow timeline for opening up the city again.
“All the activities we partake in, from research and conversations with government to staging events and empowering stakeholders will not change. The difference is we will have an even greater platform from which to function.”
running for the Legislative Council (the NSW Senate)
https://www.facebook.com/KeepSydneyOpen/videos/1743402189025986/
