Victoria best, bar none, says Keating - National - theage.com.au
Some choice quotes:
And flying the flag for Sydney:
Game on.
Some choice quotes:
FORMER prime minister Paul Keating has backed a campaign to allow cheap liquor licences for small bars in NSW to encourage Melbourne-style bars.
"The pub culture in Sydney is stultifyingly bad," Mr Keating said. "It's raucous and it's noisy in their Klondike-like saloons. All that's missing is Lola Montez. (Lola Montez was an exotic dancer and courtesan who wowed Victorian miners during the 1850s gold rush.)
Some of Sydney's top chefs have also thrown their weight behind the campaign. Rockpool's Neil Perry said he was embarrassed to take guests out in Sydney: "I think there should be an alternative to going to the pub. We are a more civilised country than that."
Tourism Victoria chief executive Greg Hywood said intimate drinking venues as a result of liquor reforms had added "an enormous dimension to the CBD culture. In Sydney, it's sometimes like there are tumbleweeds blowing down George Street at 6.30pm."
And flying the flag for Sydney:
NSW Tourism Minister Matt Brown hit back, pointing to a survey by Conde Nast Traveller magazine in which Sydney was voted the most popular tourism destination. "Melbourne can carry on as much as they like about their small bars, but it's not winning them any favours in the international market," he said.
Game on.