Following last year’s parliamentary inquiry into music, NSW Opposition Leader Michael Daley and Shadow Minister for Music and the Night Time Economy John Graham have launched a new live music policy.
The new policy addresses NSW’s music venue crisis, outlined in the parliamentary report released last November. The report found that 176 venues have closed in the past four years, and that 669 liquor licences imposed conditions that either banned or restricted live entertainment.
“Too often it is a case of ‘another one bites the dust’ – one more venue lost to overdevelopment and overregulation,” says NSW Shadow Minister for Music and the Night Time Economy John Graham MLC.
A live music census is among NSW Labor’s plans to address the crisis. Conducted every two years, an independent census will “report statistics including the number of venues, number of performances, number of working musicians, and number of hospitality workers.”
Other plans from NSW Labor include:
- Amending the Liquor Act to introduce the “Right to Play” principle and create a new class of licence specifically for venues dedicated to live entertainment
- Creating a “one-stop shop” for venues and residents to deal with noise complaints
- Establishing a single process for venues to obtain planning and liquor approvals to reduce wait times for venues and provide the community with a simple consultation process
- Creating a Minister for Music and Night Time Economy, and hold regular roundtable discussions for the Night Time Economy
- Providing a new $1.2 million programme to venues to assist with soundproofing
Image credit: 2018 Indent Tour, photo by Lazy Bones Photo.
