Byron Bay’s first topless nightclub is set to come under close scrutiny by authorities after the shire’s mayor expressed reservations about the new licensed venue.
Topless bars have been part of the nightlife entertainment scene of the Gold Coast and Kings Cross over recent years, but the announcement of the town’s first such venue has caught some by surprise.
Mayor Simon Richardson says that while Byron Shire Council does not favour such a venue, its hands are tied as far as stopping the entertainment goes, which is seen in some quarters as exploiting sex to boost liquor sales.
Cr Richardson told media he hoped there would be no local support for the CBD-located business as it went against attempts to restore the town’s reputation in the wake of damaging reports about increasing alcohol-fuelled violence.
He told ABC North Coast this morning that such establishments undermined those attempts with an alcohol-based ‘sexualisation’.
‘These are the sorts of aspects of our nightlife that we’re trying to get away from and rejecting,’ the mayor told the ABC’s Bruce McKenzie.
‘It is disappointing and I hope financially isn’t overly successful.’
He also said he hoped the venue’s female employees were not exploited.
He said that ‘unfortunately’ the venue had a liquor licence and the topless nature of the alcohol service was ‘considered entertainment’.
Cr Richardson said he hoped the liquor licensing authority and Council’s compliance officers were ‘vigilant’ to ensure everything was ‘above board and appropriate as possible’, including female employment conditions.
Who are the cretins that open these types of business who singularly fail to see what Byron is about?
Byron Bay’s prejudices on show once more: when will Byron Bay learn it is not the arbiter of public morals, taste, ethics or anything else, for that matter. Those residents who think it is should join Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Penny Wong and Jan Barham in the outer darkness where there is wailing and gnashing of teeth, if they have nothing better to do than preach to people who don’t share their views.
You must be kidding,bogan central,watch the blow flies appear.So why did all the bikies appear outside this place on the weekend.Time to rise up again and fight this.
Also, I bet they have fluoride in the tap water.
Topless beaches, topless bars, so what?
You are being deliberately obtuse Peter.
I prefer the mystery of a woman’s body rather than having every part of their bodies exposed to google at.May be old fashioned but surely mankind has climbed the evolution ladder ,not descended.Do we want to go back to have a fig leaf covering our private parts?
Thin edge of the wedge there, particularly given the rising levels of drunken thuggery that Byron’s becoming infamous for. I’m no prude and bare breasts on the beach are one thing, but in a bar at night is a different matter given the association of naked women and booze to young men.
Gross exploitation of women as sexual objects.
I have nothing against nude bathing or topless sunbathing – go to the Main Beach most sunny days and many women have their tops off and that they have to cover their breasts if they walk down the main street while men can wander around town bare chested seems to me to be unfair and discriminatory. So a woman can’t walk bare-chested in public or into a shop because “The Law” says that is OFFENSIVE!!!!
Yet, a Woman trying to make a living as a bar tender or waiter, and who is obliged under her Contract of Employment to expose her breasts to the leers of those who’ve had too many beers, is considered an ENTERTAINMENT!!
I hope equal opportunity laws require the Bar to hire suitably experienced Male Bar Tenders to bare their nipples too.
The Law is an Ass and so is anyone who goes to the Topless Bar to be “entertained” by jiggling jugs.
Get Real. Get your mind out of the gutter. Show Respect.
So lets get it even here and make the place employ males, young, fit gorgeous ones, bare arsed…ummm is that the same as the beaches guys? And for Peter and Robert would you like your daugher, neice, granddaughter or perhaps your Mother working there? Yeah think about it….sex and booze usually leads in one direction. Hasn’t Cheeky Monkeys been doing this for ages anyway?
Booze, drugs and naked women
You gotta laaaarf … Want to raise a family
in Byron ? Think carefully about what they
will be influenced by?
Is there any such thing as a ‘local’
In Byron anyway …
Doesn’t Cabanbah mean ‘Meeting Place’ ?
The older local crew of the 1980’s saw it coming and left a long time ago before the silly folk arrived…
No we didn’t.
Who says topless waitresses are “entertainment” aiding profit. Lets change the paradigm brave Bryron and have males with no knickers provide alcohol service and ‘entertainment’ … what is good for the goose is good for the gander!!
Hah.. Ok to have birds with their tops off flashing their wares on a public beach but not ok for their sistas to wean a living doing same.mayor Richardson.. As per the script
Wota hypocrite..
How ever are we going to change the expectations of visitors if we continue to pander to the lowest common denominator? Some of whom have obviously read this article. The aggression and violence in town of this last weekend is now the norm. Byron used to be special. Now, an extension of the GC.
It is very interesting that the people of the seediest venues in town are not locals but have either migrated from Southern QLD or still reside there.
Hopefully the new topless bar goes to the dogs like every other business that has ever been in that building.