NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has responded to an open letter slamming the state government written by by Bluesfest director Peter Noble, insisting the Byron Bay event would not be impacted by the new festival policy.
Noble slammed the license as a “poorly thought through new policy” and even suggested the festival may have to move out of New South Wales as "a matter of survival".
Responding to the letter, Berejiklian told The Sydney Morning Herald, "That festival has been going for 29 years, it’s a fantastic festival, it’s low risk so they don’t have anything to worry about, and I want to make that clear.
"The changes that come in from March are to do with those high-risk events where we’ve seen death, or serious injury and that’s where we expect people to raise their standards.
"I don’t want anyone who’s been holding a festival for a long time to be worried, this isn’t aimed at you, this is aimed at those people at high-risk festivals that in the past haven’t done the right thing."
Berejiklian's comments come as artists, labels, figures, venues and festivals across the country join forces to fight the new policy, with a rally to be held in Sydney next week.
A petition also launched this week has already garnered thousands of signatures. On Wednesday morning alone, around 10,000 more signatures were included on the petition.
Signatures already confirmed include Splendour In The Grass, Listen Out, Falls Festival, Peking Duk, Flight Facilities, Live Nation Australia, Courtney Barnett, Download, The Presets and Amy Shark.
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