Yep, we’re the laughing stock of the world.

Soliciting the face palm of all face palms, I clicked onto London-based Mixmag this morning only to find that they had an article ridiculing (ok not really ridiculing, but it was still embarrassing) Sydney due to fines doled out by NSW Police Force after the introduction of the lockout laws.

The fine in question regarded ‘intoxicated’ persons not ‘moving on’. Firstly, it ain’t hard to make the ‘intoxicated’ cut these days (I infamously did when only three Rosés down). Secondly, no wonder people are finding it hard to ‘move on’. They cant get into clubs/vacate clubs at 1.30 or 3am and have shit all transport options to get home. Through no choice of their own, they ain’t going anywhere lad.

Up a casual $8000 from last years effort, the total fines dished to drunks was a gigantic $900,600 (!!!). You could buy like 300,000 bottles of Penfolds Grange for that amount – right Bazzy?

This is the highest amount of fines ever raised from this law ‘violation’, with 390 individual fines slammed on punters this financial year (rivalling 413 fines handed out in the 2012-2013 years).

Naturally, police are unapologetic about this harsh approach to ‘decreasing’ alcohol related violence. And why would they apologise? They’re making serious an unashamed bank off of a marginalised community. But anywhoo, a NSW Police Spokesperson told the Daily Telegraph;

“Should a person be the recipient of a move-on direction related to intoxication, it is appropriate they comply with such direction,” the spokeswoman said.

As aforementioned, it’s relatively impossible to move on, everyone is a suspect of violence and crime and the NSW government are increasingly inciting an ‘Us v. Them’ model of governing.

No wonder the rest of the world is laughing at us.

Let’s all move to bloody Brisbane.

[via The Daily Telegraph]