Mandatory eight-year sentences are to be introduced for fatal one-punch attacks fuelled by alcohol or drugs as part of a raft of measures to curb alcohol-related violence in Sydney.
New South Wales Premier Barry O'Farrell. Photo: AAP
New South Wales Premier Barry O'Farrell says the so-called 'one-punch laws' also include lock-outs on bars in central Sydney from 1.30am and bars will have to stop serving drinks from 3am.
There will be a freeze on new liquor licences and bottle shops across the state will close at 10pm, the ABC reports.
Mr O'Farrell says sentences for serious assaults involving alcohol will be increased by two years.
"It is no longer acceptable to go out and drink yourself stupid, take illicit substances, start fights, 'coward punch' people or engage in other assaults thinking you [will] get away with it," Mr O'Farrell said on Tuesday. "From the point the legislation is passed, those days are over."
The parents of Thomas Kelly, who died after being punched in Kings Cross in 2012, welcomed the mandatory jail terms, saying they go way above what they were asking for.
