Following news that the NSW government are set to trial a more relaxed version of Sydney's lockout laws over the next two years, the Labor Party has stepped in to announce its own plan to save live music in the city which has taken a hit since the introduction of the controversial legislation.
Jo Haylen, Member for Summer Hill, and Darcy Byrne, former Mayor of Leichhardt, this week welcomed Labor's seven-step plan which includes calls for all-night public transport on weekends, a night time economy commissioner and more support for small bars.
"Mike Baird doesn't understand what the lock-out laws have done to Sydney's live music scene," Haylen said in a statement given to The Music.
"We've lost venues, jobs and many of the things we love about Sydney."
Byrne added, "Musicians and music lovers have been warning that as venues shut their doors across Sydney the next generation of artists are being left without any spaces get a start in the industry.
"Creating a new category of licensed live music venues can give the sector a shot in the arm and lead to the proliferation of a new kind of venue in the inner west and across metropolitan Sydney.
"Because people consume alcohol differently when it's combined with cultural activity, live music venues can be the antidote to the the plague of beer barn violence."
See below for the Labor Party's seven-step plan:
- Deliver all-night public transport on weekends through a trial of late-night trains, buses and light rail.
- Create a new class of liquor licenses for live music venues which allow later trading for venues across Sydney which focus on live music, such as Oxford Art Factory.
- Appoint a night time economy commissioner to work with stakeholders, local government and police to facilitate the growth of Sydney's late night economy.
- Build a strategic plan for contemporary music which will identify short, medium and long-term actions to support the growth of live music and other small live cultural events.
- Establish a permanent night time economy roundtable that will support live music and jobs.
- Review regulation.
- Support small bars, including increasing venue capacities from 60 to 120 people.
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