2014 Sydney hostage crisis
The 2014 Sydney hostage crisis, also known as the Sydney siege and Lindt Cafe siege, occurred on 15–16 December 2014 when a lone gunman, Man Haron Monis, held hostage ten customers and eight employees of a Lindt chocolate café located at Martin Place in Sydney, Australia. Police treated the event as a terrorist attack at the time, but Monis' motives were subsequently debated. However, the findings of the Coroner in 2017 deemed the event to be a terrorist attack.
Keep Sydney Open
According to its website, Keep Sydney Open was founded by "a variety of key Sydney live music and performance venues, cultural organisations, artists and music industry stakeholders" in response to the "lockout regime" that was implemented by the Barry O'Farrell government in February 2014. The group says that it is concerned about the closure of venues in Sydney, particularly in the Kings Cross, Oxford Street and CBD precincts, the attendant loss of jobs and the damage to tourism, and a loss of vibrancy in Sydney's nightlife. Members have also critiqued the increasing privatisation of Sydney's annual New Years Eve celebrations, arguing it should be free to atend.