The Preset‘s Kim Moyes has slammed the NSW Government, calling them “nuts” after they threatened to permanently shut down music festival or deny permits to festival organisers following a big of year of drama surrounded drug-related offenses and deaths at music festivals.
The musician took to the band’s Facebook to call out Mike Baird and the NSW Government saying:
“It’s devastating that there have been 2 drug related deaths at Australian music festivals in recent months, I feel for the friends and family of those poor souls. To the young lady who was rushed to hospital in a critical condition on NYD, I’m glad you’ve now left hospital and on the mend. Here’s to a speedy recovery. Threatening to shut down NSW music festivals and blaming the organizers for the choices of the attendees ? Nuts. Tragically, 10 people have been killed on NSW roads between Dec 20 + Jan 2 which has been reported as a ‘good result’ in relation to the previous years road death tolls. I don’t want to trivialize their deaths but no government is threatening to shut down transport. NSW is starting to become a little hard to swallow.”
The comparison comes after Baird made a statement to the Daily Telegraph saying that retractions would be put in place to festivals orgnisers “who have not done the right thing in the past”:
“In the light of this latest distressing and avoidable incident, I will be asking the relevant ministers to review the current system of regulating events held on public land, including the system for granting permits for public events such as music festivals. “
“If new rules and procedures place additional burdens and costs on organisers, so be it — and we will also examine denying permits to organisers who have not done the right thing in the past.”
“Enough is enough. This simply has to stop.”
Field Day saw over 180 people arrested for drug offenses with one 23 year old woman being hospitalised after allegedly taking MDMA, she has since been released. Drug offenses have been under the spotlight in the past few weeks after two deaths at Stereosonic festivals in Sydney and Adelaide have been linked to drugs.
