Video above: The same music festival had nearly double the police presence in Sydney compared to Melbourne.
Sydney pubs will stop serving booze ahead of the New South Wales election, to take a stand against Premier Gladys Berejiklian's support of restrictions on venues across the city.
Pubs will turn off their taps at 6pm for 15 minutes and managers will talk to punters about lockout laws and liquor licensing restrictions which have been denounced by Sydney's entertainment industry.
About forty pubs across the city will take part in the last-ditch effort to sway voters away from the Liberal Party when they head to polling booths tomorrow.
The brief alcohol-moratorium has been organised by the Night Time Industries Association - a coalition of industry leaders who support the state's new political party Keep Sydney Open.
The grassroots millennial party has built a platform on the anti-lock out law movement, which has gained momentum since the laws were introduced in 2014.
The Premier's opposition to pill-testing at music festivals has increased the party's popularity among young voters in NSW.
"The campaign has been building momentum over the last two years," Keep Sydney Open candidate Tyson Koh told The Feed.
"Young people feel disenfranchised - young people who enjoy culture and contemporary music."
Keep Sydney Open cops flak over preference deal
Keep Sydney Open is one of sixteen minor parties gunning for a seat in the NSW parliament.
Polling shows their collective popularity could result in a hung parliament - where Labor leader Michael Daley and the Liberal Party's Gladys Berejiklian will have to curry favour with potential crossbench candidates to introduce or change legislation.
The popularity of minor parties in Australian politics has increased over the last decade; with more scrutiny leveled at the preference deals being made ahead of the NSW election as a result.
Keep Sydney Open has been criticised for preferencing Sustainable Australia on their 'How to Vote' card - a party which supports cutting immigration.
Mr Koh maintains his party does not support Sustainable Australia's anti-immigration policy and the preference was purely strategic.
"I think a lot of people are justified in their concerns ... But we have a bigger agenda, which is to win seats," he said.
Mr Koh said his party has felt unwarranted pressure over its preference deal.
"Some of the attacks have been quite vicious and without knowing all the facts."
Pro-sustainability, not racist
Sustainable Australia candidate Mark Ferris has defended the anti-immigration policy, which aims to limit migration to 70,000 a year without adjusting refugee intake.
"Its purpose is to address environmental sustainability in the country. We don't want rapid population growth," he told The Feed.
"It's all about environmental sustainability and slowing climate change. Our policy does not discriminate on where the migrants come from."
Both major parties maintain they haven't been making anticipatory deals with potential cross-benchers.
