The ongoing inquiry into the New South Wales government’s “hastily developed” music festival regulations has called for the state government’s license program to be eradicated.
The license program has been blamed for the cancellation of a number of New South Wales music festivals. Much criticism has been seen regarding the implementation of the license program without any consultation with music industry professionals.
Inquiry Report calls for the New South Wales government’s music festival regulations to be canned amid concerns of a lack of consultation with the industry.
Other revelations from the inquiry include poor organisation in implementing changes. Festivals effected were either notified by text or not notified at all. For the festivals that received the regulations, they were only distributed just a week before they needed to be implemented.
The inquiry was conducted by the Legislative Council Regulation Committee, which contains members of government, opposition and the Greens. The inquiry process allowed for the voices of the Australian Festival Association and Live Performance Australia to be heard, providing much needed insight from the industry.
Shadow Minister for Music John Graham said, “These festivals will be safer if government and the industry work together. That hasn’t happened.” He went on to say, “We don’t support the hastily developed music festival licence. It has done tremendous damage to music sector, here and around the country. Importantly, we need a new regime in place for the upcoming summer festival season. The government should meet with the industry to immediately get this in place.”
Either way this is good news for festival lovers as it will hopefully lead to better run and more well equipped festivals.
