Healthcare workers and the police are unhappy at the Premier’s suggestion on Sunday that her government should relax alcohol restrictions to boost Sydney’s night-time economy. Why wouldn’t they be? Extending the sale of alcohol back to 5am runs against their experiences on the frontline, and the research evidence.

I write as the author of several peer-reviewed papers examining the effects of trading hour restrictions in Newcastle and Sydney; whose findings have been scrutinised extensively and never credibly challenged. I have observed public and political debate since the Liquor Administration Board’s infamous Newcastle decision in March 2008. That quasi-independent body was abolished a few months later, its functions placed under the direct control of government.

The machinations of alcohol regulation in NSW highlighted the limitations of my work as a behavioural scientist. It was not that I expected scientific evidence to dictate public policy. Science speaks to causes and the effectiveness of countermeasures, not to societal values or political realities. It was more that decision makers seemed unwilling or incapable of taking a rational, transparent approach to their task.

Starting from the top, why would the Premier announce her government’s intentions before the select committee it set up to review the matter has concluded its work? And what had changed since Judge Callinan’s review in September 2016 to warrant another costly review?